Purples roll into 12th straight region title game

Published 9:40 am Tuesday, March 18, 2025

By Micheal Compton

The streak continues for the Bowling Green boys’ basketball team, which rolled into the Region 4 title game with an 86-71 win over Russell County in the region semifinals on Monday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Bowling Green (27-6) used a second-quarter flurry to take control and hold the Lakers at bay from there, earning a 12th straight trip to the region title game.

Now the Purples will look to claim the title for the first time since 2021 by bucking another streak. BG is 1-6 in the last seven region title games – all against Warren Central.

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This time Bowling Green will face Clinton County.

“Honestly, I don’t really know about all the streaks and things because it’s just the next game in front of us,” Bowling Green coach D.G. Sherrill said. “It’s been nice to be part of a team – a program – that has had this kind of success. Great assistant coaches. Great players. Great support from our administration. We feel like sometimes we are forgotten a little bit. We have not won that big game in a few years now – the one that everybody measures us by.

“For any other school besides our crosstown rival to accomplish even one of these trips it would be like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and they would build a statue of the team outside. With us, it is just the expectation.”

Coming off an opening-round win against Franklin-Simpson, Russell County (18-12) used a fast start against the Purples to build a 17-11 advantage late in the first quarter.

Bowling Green started to chip away, with Braylon Banks’ 3-pointer at the horn trimming the deficit to 18-16 after one. A bucket by Jace Wardlow to open the second pulled the Purples even. A few minutes later, two Deuce Bailey free throws gave the Purples a 23-21 lead and Luke Idlett added a 3 to extend the margin to five.

Bowling Green would never relinquish that lead, using a 27-point outburst in the second to build a 43-31 lead by halftime.

A 3 from Idlett midway through the third extended the advantage to 57-39. The Lakers kept fighting and got within nine twice in the fourth quarter before Bowling Green was finally able to pull away and secure the win.

“We thought we needed to get the game going as fast as we could,” Sherrill said. “They are a really good halfcourt team. They have several guys that can shoot it. Their big boys are really strong and tough matchups. We tried to get to their legs a little bit. It took us a little while. They hung around and hit some shots. I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and hitting some big shots.”

Bowling Green shot 65.9% from the field, with five players scoring in double figures. Banks led the way with 21.

“It hit us hard last year when we took that loss,” Banks said. “That was motivating us all offseason, all this season.”

Idlett added 18 points, while Wardlow, Kadyn Carpenter and Joe Hurt all added 13 each.

“Last year left a bad taste in our mouth,” Idlett said. “This year we focused on practice, focused on games – high intensity. We want to end our season in Rupp.”

Owen Loy led Russell County with a game-high 25 points. Mayes Gosser added 17 points and Dylan Stanelle finished with 13 points.

The Purples will face Clinton County at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will be playing in the Region 4 title game for the first time ever, with Clinton County’s last region title appearance coming in Region 5 in 1960.

Bowling Green is 15-3 all-time against Clinton County, with nine straight wins – the last five in the region tournament.

“They are a complete basketball team from top to bottom,” Sherrill said. “We’ve seen Clinton a couple of times up here and it is going to be a test – a very tough test. They are big and they are strong and they know what they want to do and how they want to play. It ought to be a really tough challenge for us on Wednesday.”

BGHS 16 27 18 25 – 86

RCHS 18 13 17 23 – 71

BG – Banks 21, Idlett 18, Carpenter 13, Hurt 13, Wardlow 13, Bailey 6, Muhire 2.

RC – Loy 25, Gosser 17, Stanelle 13, Shearer 5, Coffey 5, Browning 3, Walters 2, Bolin 1.

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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