[JokersWild24]

1998: Scott County vs. Lexington Catholic - State Semi-Final



Another of the most memorable games in Sweet 16 history. I still remember where I was sitting, who I was sitting with, and the look on everyone's face as this one ended.

Lexington Catholic was led by David Graves (Notre Dame), Shawn Fields (Georgia), 7'1 Nathan Popp (UNC Greensboro), Scott Mendenhall, and Steve Searcy. Nationally ranked, the Knights had defeated nationally rated counterparts Oak Hill Academy (#5) and Chicago Whitney Young (#2) during regular season play.

Scott County was led by Rick Jones (Vanderbilt), AW Hamilton (Wake Forest & Marshall), Toby Harris, Mario McIntrye, Michael Scaravelli, and Casey Alsop (Georgetown College).

I've referred to this game as the beginning of the Scott County vs. Lexington Catholic rivalry. It's hard to imagine that, going into the morning, anyone could have envisioned the effect that game would have on the course of Lexington-area basketball history given that it happened nearly a decade before the highly transformative re-districting before the 2006-2007 season that sent Scott County to the 11th.