Brant Smithers is obviously not old enough to remember Walton-Verona’s first Sweet 16 appearance in 1942.
But the Walton-Verona senior well remembers the Bearcats' last trip to the state tournament in 2019 when he was a freshman.
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Dieonte Miles, the senior leader of that team, was named a Mr. Basketball finalist that season and is now playing for Xavier University.
Smithers, now a senior at Walton-Verona, is trying to accomplish what Miles did after he was named a Mr. Basketball finalist for this year’s award, to be given March 20 in Lexington.
“You sit in your room and you dream about that your whole life, being Mr. Basketball,” he said. “I got to go down there with Dieonte Miles when he won Eighth Region Player of the Year. It was really special to go down there, and I can’t want to go back.”
Smithers and the Bearcats begin their journey to this year’s Eighth Region championship against North Oldham on Wednesday night.
Walton-Verona is 19-10, entering the regional on an eight-game winning streak. That includes wins over rivals Simon Kenton and Grant County in the 32nd District Tournament, avenging earlier losses to both teams.
In SK’s case, it was the first win over the Pioneers in three years, which was sweet for Smithers and head coach Mike Hester, a former Simon Kenton standout who picked up his first win over his alma mater.
Smithers is averaging 22 points per game this season, hitting 85 3-pointers.
After playing sparingly as a freshman for the Miles-led regional champs, Smithers has more than 1,800 career points and 270 made 3-pointers in the last three years.
In the district win over Simon Kenton, Smithers was one of five Bearcats scoring eight or more points. Against Grant County, four players had 13 or more points, and the fifth player had eight.
“It was very balanced,” Hester said after the Simon Kenton game. “As of late, that’s what it’s been. Our success is predicated on sharing the basketball and making shots. We’ve been riding this winning streak and hopefully, we can continue that going forward.”
Smithers and his guard skills still make the team go.
“It makes things a lot easier for the other four guys on the floor,” Hester said. “He can score at a high level. When he gets hot like he does, we just give him the basketball and he puts it in the basket.”
Entering the regional tournament, Smithers hopes his team can make a run. He pointed out the sign in the WV gym which lists the previous two regional championships 77 years apart.
“That sign says 1942, 2019,” he said. “We didn’t win it for 70-something years. Some might say it will take another 70-something years to win one, but I think we can shock the whole region and win it again. We fight. We don’t have size, we’re not big, but we fight. That’s what I love.”
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