The University Heights Academy Blazers are back in the 8th District championship game for the third year in a row. It was a battle for half of the first quarter, but then the Blazers took control and advanced to the title game by pushing past Fort Campbell Tuesday night 63-41 in the first semifinal game of the boys side of the tournament.
Early on in the contest, the Falcon defense and tempo appeared to have the Blazers a bit off stride. Behind the play of Aaron Hall, Fort Campbell jumped out to the early 7-3 lead. At that point, the Blazers cranked up the defensive pressure and began to create turnovers going the other way. UHA finished the quarter on a 13-0 run to go up 16-7. D.J. Quarles got off to a blistering start in his return from a concussion, scoring 8 points in the opening quarter.
After Quarles lit it up in the first quarter, it was K.J. Crump’s turn to do it in the 2nd quarter. As the UHA pressure continued to cause serious problems for the Falcons, Crump picked up 10 points in the quarter to help the Blazers rip the game open. With the lead at 20-11 early in the 2nd, UHA outscored Fort Campbell 21 to 9 the rest of the way to take a 41-20 lead into the locker room at the break.
Coming out to start the second half, not much changed from the second quarter. The UHA offense continued to click, while the Blazer defense limited what Fort Campbell was able to do on the offensive end. UHA also got solid inside play from senior big man Weston Wood as the lead continued to grow. By the end of the quarter, the Blazers were in firm control at 59-30.
With the game firmly in hand, UHA reserves entered the contest with just over six minutes to go as the Blazers rode it on out to the final 21 point margin.
The Blazers were led by D.J. Quarles with 15 points. K. J. Crump finished with 12 points. Amani McGee, and Weston Wood added 10 points each. Will Bryan just missed double figures with 9 points.
For the Falcons, Aaron Hall led the way with 14 points. Jeremiah Holley and Cameron Pratt added 8 points each. Holley also had 13 rebounds in the game.
With the win, the Blazers improve to 15-12 on the season and move on to Thursday night’s championship game at 7:00pm at Colonel Gym, and to next week’s 2nd Region tournament, which will be played at Hopkinsville High School. The Blazers have won the last two 8th District championships.
With the loss, Fort Campbell finishes the season at 9-21.
SCORE BY QUARTER
UHA (15-12) 16 25 18 4 – 00
FTC (9-21) 7 13 10 11 – 00
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
UHA: Quarles 15, Crump 12, Wood 10, McGee 10, Bryan 9, Shouse 6, Thomas 1
FTC: Hall 14, Holley 8, Pratt 8, J. Pratt 3, Mahoghany 2, Massey 2, Blaszkowski 2, Wilborne 2
