Lady Cards take 70-33 win over Lady Trojans

By SHANNON HUTCHINSON

Sports Writer

The Wayne County Lady Cardinals hosted crosstown rival Monticello, last Thursday night, at Cardinal Gym. The Lady Cards entered with a 5-3 mark overall and a 3-0 district record, while the Lady Trojans entered with a 6-8 record and a 2-1 league tally. Wayne County won the earlier meeting between the schools 60-38, in December at Monticello Gym.

Both teams battled for the ball in last Thursday's contest. Wayne County advanced to 6-3, while the Lady Trojans dropped to 6-9 Photo by Duchess Sloan

Sophomore forward Ashley Bell scored a game high 22 points and grabbed a season high 16 rebounds, with 3 blocks, as Wayne County used a 22 to 1 second period advantage, to break open a close game and cruise to a 70-33 home win. Bell finished 7 of 19 from the field and a season best 7 of 7 from the free throw line, as the Lady Cards placed four scorers in double digits, while improving to 6-3.

"Ashley played more under control in this game and really had a good game. I thought our size inside and defensive pressure were the difference in the game," said Lady Cards

 head coach Tim Pyles.

Junior guard Kenita Ball added a career high 16 points with 4 assists, while Claudia Baker netted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Trisha Gothrup chipped in with 11 points, as the winners shot 43 percent from the field, while improving to 4-0 in district play.

"Offensively our balance was good and Kenita Ball stepped up and had a solid game on both ends of the floor. I really believe she’s getting better each time we play and defensively she learned a lot from the first time we played Monticello," said Pyles.

Monticello, which dropped to

6-9, placed only one scorer in double digits led by the 11 points of senior guard Sarah Beaty. Beaty finished 5 of 10 from the field, plus tallied a team best 4 assists. Heather Carrender netted 8 points and Meg Phillips tallied 5 points, as the Lady Trojans were plagued by 24 percent shooting from the field.

"Our shots just weren’t falling," said Monticello Lady Trojan Coach Marla Kelsch. "A few shots didn’t fall, and we had a few shots blocked....it was like we didn’t know what to do."

The Lady Trojans were out rebounded 46-29, despite the team high 8 boards of forward Audra Turner.

"Rebounding hurt us a lot," said Kelsch. "We didn’t rebound the ball very well."

Monticello opened up with the hot-hand early and owned a 7-2 lead, barely three minutes into the contest. It was a relief for Kelsch and her coaching staff to see, after the December meeting between the two squads, when Monticello came out very jittery and fell behind early.

"We were hitting some shots and it looked like we had some confidence in our shots," said Kelsch as she talked about the opening minutes of last week’s contest.

Wayne County ended the quarter with a 5-0 run, to knot the score at 7-7, after one period. Defense and poor shooting dominated the play, as the squads combined to convert on only 5 of 26 field goal attempts.

"We talked before the game about being prepared to play and taking care of the basketball, but early on we turned the ball over too much and they made some shots. I thought our defensive intensity improved over the last half of the first quarter and certainly carried over to the second quarter," said Pyles.

Six different Lady Cards scored in the second frame, led by the 7 points of Kenita Ball, as Monticello failed to make a field goal. Wayne County used a 22-1 period advantage, to take a 29-8 halftime lead.

Wayne County made 35 percent of their shots from the field in the half, while Monticello shot just 14 percent from the field. A Chanda Rednour free throw accounted for the Lady Trojans point, in the frame.

"We just couldn’t get the shots to fall in the second quarter," said Kelsch, who struggled to find any explanation for the second quarter after reviewing game tape. "It seemed like we just went blank."

Trisha Gothrup netted 8 of her 11 points, in the third quarter, as the Lady Cards used a 24-14 advantage, to push to a 53-22 lead, after three frames. Six different Lady Trojans scored in the third quarter, paced by the 5 points of Sarah Beaty.

Ashley Bell tallied 10 of her 22 points, in the final frame, as the hosts rolled to a 70-33 win. Beaty once again led the visitors attack with 6 more points in the period, to finish with all 11 of her points in the second half.

Wayne County’s Latoyia Green contributed a game high 5 assists with 5 rebounds and 3 points, while Sarah Wixson added 4 points and 5 boards, as seven different Lady Cards scored in the win.

"I thought Sarah Wixson gave us a big lift off the bench in the first half and really sparked us," said Pyles.

Monticello’s Sierra Adams totaled 4 points and 4 boards, while Audra Turner chipped in with 2 points, as eight different Lady Trojans scored in the contest.

Kelsch praised the overall effort of Heather Carrender who finished with 8 points.

"I think Heather Carrender picked up her defense in that game...the charge she drew and she worked cutting off the baseline," said Kelsch. "She has improved a great deal in that aspect of the game."

Kelsch was disappointed in another stat from the game, the number of deflections for her team was only 11 against Wayne County.

"We didn’t get after them the way we should have," she said.

Monticello finished 12 of 50 from the field overall for 24 percent and made 4 of 16 3-pointers for 25 percent. The squad made 5 of 11 free throws for 46 percent and finished with 20 turnovers.

Wayne County made 26 of 60 field goal attempts for 43 percent and tallied on only four of 22 3-pointers for 18 percent. The winners made 14 of 19 free throws for 74 percent and finished with 15 turnovers.

"We once again shot the ball pretty well from the free throw line, but again struggled to convert behind the arc. We’re getting some pretty good looks from 3-point range, but that has to improve," said Pyles.

Kelsch saw some good practices out of her team early this week, as they prepared for a trip to Harrodsburg Monday night.

"I think we have to put this behind us and realize there’s still a lot of the season left," said Kelsch. "We are still in the hunt for the second seed in the district and we have the Class A region coming up."

Wayne County hosted McCreary Central Monday night.

Details for both those games will be in next week’s edition.

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