Published: February 19, 2008 04:18 pm            

Lady Cardinals pound West Jessamine 82-50

Monticello — The Wayne County Lady Cardinals met 12th Region foe West Jessamine last

Friday night at the WJHS Gym. The Lady Cards entered with a 14-8 record and

were coming off a disappointing 62-28 loss at Somerset earlier in the week.

West Jessamine owned a 5-18 mark and was coming off a 59-55 loss at Burgin

in their last outing. The teams last met on February 16 with Wayne County

rolling to a 70-12 home win.

Junior guard Heather Stearns paced four winners scoring in double

figures with 15 points, as Wayne County built a 45-18 halftime lead and was

never threatened, en route to an impressive 82-50 road win. Stearns shot 5

of 8 overall from the field, which included 2 3-pointers and made 3 of 3

free throws, with 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists, in just over 15

minutes of play.

Junior reserve forward Emilee Burton shot 7 of 10 from the field to net

a career high 14 points, as the Lady Cards snapped a two game losing streak,

while improving to 15-8 on the season.

"I was very pleased with the way we bounced back as a team, after such a

disappointing effort at Somerset. We made a real effort to push the

basketball and try to force the tempo. We shot the ball extremely well and

made some 3-pointers, which also picked up our intensity on defense. We had

a big scoring night and a lot of different players step up with solid

games," said Lady Cards head coach Tim Pyles.

Kayla Bowlin and Rachel Bristow both added 13 points each. Bowlin shot 5

of 7 from the field, with 2 3-pointers and tallied a game high 5 assists.

Bristow made 3 of 5 3-pointers and 5 of 8 shots overall, with 2 rebounds in

19 minutes of action.

"I was really concerned with how we would come out, but we got off to a

good start. Confidence is so important and we needed a game like this.

Anytime we make shots everything else always looks better. We were pretty

active and played pretty good defense most of the night," said Pyles.

Kayla Jones tallied 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while Courtney

Duncan totaled 7 points, 5 boards and 4 steals. TaShea Pyles matched a

season high with 6 points and Samantha Sexton netted 5 points, as seven

different Lady Cards made a 3-pointer.

West Jessamine, which dropped to 5-19, placed two scorers in

double-digits, led by the game high 21 points of Abby Baxter. Baxter shot an

impressive 10 of 11 from the field and 1 of 2 from the charity-stripe,

while logging 23 minutes of play. Lauren Lamar added 12 points, as six

different Lady Colts scored in the loss.

Wayne County opened 5 of 8 from 3-point range and used the 6 points of

Rachel Bristow to roll to a 20-10 first quarter lead. West Jessamine was

able to stay close with 4 of 9 shooting from the field.

Heather Stearns exploded for 10 points in the second stanza and totaled

13 in the first half, as the Lady Cards used a 25-8 run to roll to a 45-18

halftime advantage.

"Offensively I thought that was one of our better halves of

basketball," said Pyles.

Five different Lady Cards scored in the third frame, as the visitors

used a 19-12 tilt to push to a 64-30 lead. Wayne County made 8 of 14 field

goal attempts, while the hosts tallied on 5 of 11 attempts in the quarter.

Emilee Burton scored 6 points in the final 8 minutes as the Lady Cards

pushed out to their largest lead at 80-39. The Lady Colts used the 13 points

of Abby Baxter in the fourth period to end the contest with an 11-2 run, to

leave the final score 82-50.

"We were able to play a lot of people and that's always good to get some

players valuable varsity experience. Our defense was lax late and we did

allow Baxter too many point blank looks at the basket," said Pyles.

West Jessamine, which battled to a 22-22 tie on the backboards, shot 19

of 37 overall for 51 percent. The squad missed all 4 3-pointers attempted

and tallied on 12 of 18 free throws for 67 percent, while finishing with 19

turnovers.

Wayne County shot an impressive 29 of 50 overall for 58 percent and

connected on 12 of 22 3-pointers for 55 percent. The winners converted on 12

of 19 free throws for 63 percent and totaled 19 assists with 14 steals,

against 14 turnovers.

"Overall this was a nice game for our team and hopefully we'll build on

this effort. East Jessamine has a lot of players back from their team that

advanced into the region semifinals last year, so we'll have to go back to

work," said Pyles. Up next was a Saturday night road trip to East Jessamine.

See related story for complete details.

        

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