The Mercer County boys outlasted East Jessamine 89-80 in double overtime Monday night in a 46th District Tournament semifinal at Nicholasville.
Mercer (16-12) rallied twice from three-point deficits late in the game, then dominated host East Jessamine (23-8) in the second extra period to advance to Thursday’s championship game and return to the 12th Region Tournament after a one-year absence.
John Ingram paced the Titans with 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and his 3-point basket with 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation tied the game at 67-all.
In the first overtime, he sank another 3 with 1:08 to play to tie the game at 74-all. The Jaguars held the ball until calling timeout with 14 seconds left, then turned it over, but Mercer missed a half-court shot.
Mercer pulled away during the second overtime at the free-throw line, where the Titans were 30 for 36.
“This was a total team effort led by our seniors tonight,” Mercer assistant coach Jeremy Brummett said. “It was just an all-out battle between two rivals. It came down to free throws.”
The teams had split two regular-season games, with each team winning at home. Mercer won 87-77 on Dec. 11; East Jessamine won 90-76 on Jan. 26.
Will Hager had a game-high 22 points for Mercer, and Blake Pennington scored 21.
Russell Sims had 16 points, six rebounds and four assits, Jordan Duncan had five rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots and Hager had five rebounds.
45th District
Garrard County 71, Kentucky School for the Deaf 19 — At Danville, Nick McCollum scored 18 points to lead Garrard (7-21) over KSD (5-22) in a first-round game.
The Golden Lions, who play host Boyle County in a semifinal tonight, led 26-6 after one quarter en route to their fourth straight win. They made five 3-point shots in the first period and had seven by halftime.
Adam Turner and Corey Lewis scored five points each for the Colonels, who finished their season with 11 straight losses.
KSD was 7 for 27 from the field with 18 turnovers and only nine rebounds.
Monday’s Area High School Linescores
BOYS
45th District Tournament
At Boyle County
First Round
Kentucky School f/t Deaf 6 13 15 19
Garrard County 26 48 62 71
KSD (5-22) — Adam Turner 5, Corey Lewis 5, Valdin Kudic 3, Bruce Gemmer 2, Irvin Herrera 2, Jeremy Davis 2.
GARRARD (7-21) — Austin Sebastian 4, Nick McCollum 18, Slade Crutchfield 4, Logan Teague 6, Billy Abney 6, Jacob Smith 13, Clayton Ray 11, Mike Redmon 4, Cameron Woods 5.
46th District Tournament
At East Jessamine
Semifinal
Mercer County 17 37 52 67 74 89
East Jessamine 27 40 50 67 74 80
MERCER (16-12) — Marcus Warren 3, John Ingram 20, Will Hager 22, Russell Sims 16, Blake Pennington 21, Jordan Duncan 6, Tommy Craig 1.
EAST JESSAMINE (23-8) — Kameren Reed 7, Ronnie Carson 26, Hayden Smith 8, Taylor Harper 20, Mike Jones 10, Timmy Bradshaw 9.
