By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
It may have been 19 degrees outside but inside the Conner gym Friday, the thermostat had all the feel of those warming temperatures of March tournament time.
Conner’s Dalton Kramer (3) challenges Mason County’s Braylon Hamilton at the basket in Conner’s 80-61 win Friday. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Not a surprise. Mason County’s Royals, winners of 23 of their 25 games, were here and the 10th Region toughies are as good a symbol of approaching spring and the Sweet 16 as anybody in the state.
Which is why this was so sweet for a Conner team trying to make a statement that it will be there when the Ninth Region plays out in Northern Kentucky.
The homestanding Cougars, winners of 15 of their 21 games, put this one into high gear after intermission and buried Mason County, 80-61, in a second-half blitz keyed by the 48 points from their hot-shooting guard tandem of Dalton Kramer and Landen Hamilton.
But on this night, it was the baby-faced Kramer, just 5-foot-11, who had the bigger numbers with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-11 two-point attempts that included a pair of tip-ins, one a swat to keep the ball alive that fell through the net.
And even though the stat sheet says he didn’t make a three-pointer, Kramer came within a nano-second of converting the year’s longest three with a two-hand three-quarter-court push shot that didn’t quite beat the halftime buzzer as it banked in perfectly as the teams ran off the court.
With Hamilton adding 22 points on a mixture of back-door cut layups and back-off perimeter jumpers, the pressure from a quick Mason defense was ultimately turned against the Royals as both Kramer and Hamilton could beat pressure with both hands going either direction off the dribble.
Conner’s Daniel Campbell shoots it over Mason County’s Phillip Bierley. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
“I was just playing in the moment,” Kramer said with a grin about how he made it happen no matter what the circumstances. And yes, this was the best combo performance of the pair this season, he said, as Hamilton nodded in agreement.
“We had a 10-day break,” Hamilton said, and plenty of prep time for Mason County. “We were ready.”
Indeed.
For sure, they were by the time they came out for the third quarter, leading by just a point, 34-33. That all changed the next eight minutes with the Cougars blasting off on a 26-13 third-quarter blitz.
“It showed our commitment to do it together,” Conner Coach Matt Otte said, as his other two double-figure scorers, Ayden Lohr and Daniel Campbell, joined in the offensive fun with 14 and 12 points respectively.
“Look for the back-door cuts,” Hamilton said against the half-court pressure from Mason County. Use their pressure against them. Get some layups, then force them to back off. “And then we can run our offense,” he said.
Down 63-53 with 6:25 left, Mason County Coach Brian Kirk told his guys: “There’s plenty of time . . . just one possession at a time.”
But time proved on the Cougars’ side as the more chances Mason County took on defense, the more Conner attacked . . . and ended up on the free throw line.
Which is one of the reasons it’s tough to catch the Cougs. They can convert free throws, as they did in this game, knocking down 18 of 20 – 90 percent. Mason County shot 19, but made just 12.
“We talked about this,” Otte said, of how he wanted them to run the offense. “Keep on dribbling. Go back door. Be patient. If they overplay you, just keep moving . . . we did that.”
But it may be easier for this team to do that and for this coach to get them to, Otte says. “We have seven seniors who have been doing this for four years.”
Conner’s Landen Hamilton drives for two of his 22 points against Mason County Friday. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
That carries over to defense. This is not a team that will beat you with “individual defense,” Otte says. He doesn’t have those kinds of athletes.
“It’s got to take everybody,” he says.
On Friday night, it did as 6-3 senior Grant Reece and 6-6 junior Ben Fay split the center spot with six points and five rebounds going against Mason County’s top player, 6-7 Riley Mastin, who scored 21 points with 11 rebounds but not enough to beat them.
“I think this gets us ready for the postseason,” said Hamilton, who probably doesn’t hit the 6-foot mark they list him at but has been offered scholarships by both Thomas More and Centre where his skill set would fit in well.
Kramer isn’t sure about playing college basketball. He might just go as a regular student.
But high school basketball? That’s another story.
He’s just playin’ in the moment, Dalton says.
And Friday’s “moment” could not have been more fun.
BOX SCORE
MASON COUNTY 16 17 13 15—61
CONNER 17 17 26 20—80
MASON COUNTY (23-3): Henry 3-0-2-8, Bierley 3-0-2-8, Walton 3-0-3-9, Mastin 9-0-3-21, McClanahan 2-0-1-5, B. Hamilton 3-2-2-10, TOTALS: 23-3-12-61.
CONNER (15-6): L. Hamilton 8-1-5-22, Kramer 10-0-6, 26, Lohr 5-3-1-14, Campbell 3-0-6-12, Fay 2-0-0-4, Reece 1-0-0-2, Henson 0-0-0-0, TOTALS: 29-4-18-80.
