Dallas Roberts clutch again as North Oldham tops Trinity in King of the Bluegrass

Dallas Roberts showed off his clutch gene on one of the state’s biggest stages Friday.

The North Oldham High School senior guard drove the lane and scored with 4 seconds left to give the Mustangs a 50-48 victory over No. 5-ranked Trinity in the opening game of the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale High School.

Roberts also hit the game-winning shot in North Oldham’s 75-72 victory over Manual in the season opener, and Mustangs coach David Levitch estimated he has five game-winners in his career.

“My teammates have a lot of faith in me, and so do the coaches,” Roberts said. “I appreciate it. I’d rather not be in those situations, but I like having the ball in my hands in those moments and being able to create for my team.”

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North Oldham (6-3) advanced to face the winner of the Pittsburgh Central Catholic-Sagemont (Fla.) game in Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. quarterfinal. Trinity (5-2) fell into the consolation bracket.

Jack Scales scored 14 points and Ian Higdon added 12 points and eight rebounds to lead North Oldham. Roberts finished with 10 points and three assists.

Trinity had rallied from a 13-point deficit and tied the score at 48 on two Drae Vasser free throws with 22.1 seconds left.

After a timeout, Roberts got the ball at the top of the key, rolled off a screen and drove to his right for the game-winning basket. Roberts made just 3 of 11 shots but converted the one that mattered most.

“We got Dallas going downhill to his right hand,” Levitch said. “He struggled a little around the rim tonight, but I told him when he came out, ‘You’ve got this.’ We got what we wanted … and good players make tough shots.”

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It’s nothing new for Roberts, a 6-foot-1 guard who has started for the Mustangs since his eighth-grade season. He has 1,790 career points and is averaging 17.6 points per game this season.

In The Courier Journal’s preseason poll of coaches, Roberts was the No. 2-ranked player in the Eighth Region and No. 20 in the state.

Roberts said he’s being recruited by Brescia and Georgetown College and is hoping for offers from bigger schools down the road.

“The offers have been slow, to be honest, but there’s a lot of interest right now,” Roberts said. “I’m just trying to get over the hump with the offers and see what opportunities come to me.”

Levitch, who played at the University of Louisville, said college coaches are missing out on a “natural scorer.”

“He’s really good at controlling the game,” Levitch said. “He’s super good in transition, and he’s a super smart and heady basketball player. He’s led us for five years now.

“I think he’s a (Division I) player. I don’t know what else he has to do. We play one of the toughest schedules in the state, and that’s the fourth (Division I) guard we’ve faced this year. Dallas goes toe to toe with all of them.”

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Trinity coach Mike Szabo has followed the career of Roberts, who also is a family member. Roberts is the son of a cousin of Szabo’s wife, Laurie Didio.

“He’s a tough kid, and I know the kind of commitment and time and effort he’s put in over the years,” Szabo said. “He’s dedicated to the game. … He’s a good player and stepped up and made a great play. He took a tough, contested shot and won the game.”

North Oldham   10          12          14          14 – 50

Trinity                 9            7            12          20 – 48

North Oldham (6-3) – Dallas Roberts 10, Ian Higdon 12, Jack Scales 14, Luke Anderson 10, Miles Gay 2, Jack Fischer 2.

Trinity (5-2) – Drae Vasser 12, Matt Toller 6, Cam McClain 11, Jayden Johnson 12, Alex Johnson 5, C.J. Walls 2.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: King of the Bluegrass: North Oldham's Dallas Roberts clutch vs Trinity