Bryan Station stuns defending 11th Region champions to improve to 14-1

Bryan Station’s decisive 73-60 win over defending 11th Region champion Frederick Douglass at The Farm on Tuesday night might have come as a surprise to some.

It was no shock for Defenders coach Champ Ligon Jr. or his players.

“We expected it,” Ligon said matter-of-factly. “I mean, when you get to 13-1, you ought to feel like you can go win any game. It was a mental hurdle for the guys, though, because last year, (Douglass) got us three times. The year before that, they knocked us out of the district. But we expected it.”

Now 14-1, Bryan Station already has more wins than either of their last two seasons in Ligon’s second go-round with the Defenders. Ligon coached a powerhouse Northside team more than a decade ago which featured future Butler star and NBA player Shelvin Mack.

He seems to be building another one.

“Most of these guys have been with me for three years now, two years at least, and they’ve just matured,” Ligon said. “We’ve taken a lot of lumps along the way, and now we’re just bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced. And that’s starting to pay dividends.”

One of those maturing players is standout sophomore Amari Owens, who led the Defenders with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Owens helped key a 20-3 Bryan Station run in the third quarter that included a crossover dribble in transition that wrong-footed his defender to the floor as he knocked down a straight-away 15-footer. That brought the visiting Defenders fans to a roar. Moments later, Owens dished out assists on back-to-back 3-pointers by Rashaad Faulkner and Matthew Golinski that put Bryan Station up 57-33 to end the period, its largest margin of the game.

“We’re getting better,” said Owens, who acknowledged Tuesday’s win was big for his team. “But going down the line, we’ve got to work harder.”

Douglass trailed 30-24 at halftime as it went 0-for-8 on 3-pointers and struggled from the free throw line as well. That trend continued. The Broncos made only three 3-pointers in 19 attempts and converted just 13 of 24 free throws as the Defenders built their lead.

Armelo Boone led Douglass (9-5) with 23 points. Aveion Chenault added 16. Taeshawn Adams also scored 14 points for Bryan Station. Golinski led the Defenders with 13 rebounds.

Despite coming in as the No. 15 team in the Herald-Leader’s latest Dave Cantrall Rankings, Bryan Station’s wins so far this season haven’t garnered any respect in the weekly top 15 media rankings. Toppling a Douglass team ranked No. 14 by the media and No. 22 by Cantrall should change that narrative.

Senior guard Daeveon Adams lived through the disappointment of going 12-12 as sophomore and 11-19 last year.

“We weren’t really a winning team, but we’ve just progressed and progressed,” said Adams, who made 3 of 4 3-pointers on his way to 14 points against Douglass. “We’ve gotten more and more confident. We’ve been working hard. … We knew we was going to make it big.”

Next, Bryan Station will host undefeated 42nd District rival Henry Clay (16-0) in a girls-boys doubleheader on Friday. High school fans nearly filled Douglass’s gym to capacity on Tuesday. Ligon expects another packed house when they take on the Blue Devils.

“That’s a big game, too,” Ligon said. “We’re going to be at home and we’re going to bring the best we’ve got that night.”