1-18-12 —   The Wayne County lady Cardinals hosted 48th District rival  

Southwestern last Tuesday night at Cardinal Gym, in an important  

match up for both teams. The Lady Cards entered with a 6-11 mark  

overall and 2-1 tally in district play and were coming off a 51-46  

loss to Casey County. The Lady Warriors entered with a 12th Region  

best 12-3 record overall, that included a 2-2 mark in district  

action. The teams met earlier in the season on December 13, with  

Southwestern claiming a 49-40 home win.

    Wayne County used an 18-8 third quarter run to break open a close  

game and withstood 5 Southwestern 3-pointers in the final 8 minutes  

to claim a 65-60 home win. Jessica Hardin netted a career high 32  

points with 7 rebounds and 2 steals without a turnover, in 30 minutes  

of action. The junior shot 8 of 15 from the field and 16 of 17 from  

the free throw line, as the hosts improved to 3-1 in district play.

    "Jessica is one of the more athletic players in our region, and  

she's really doing a nice job of driving to the basket. Those drivers  

to the basket are drawing fouls, and she has a lot of confidence at  

the free throw line. This was a good win for our team and a big key  

in that was our team effort on the backboards. Southwestern shoots a  

lot of threes, so a lot of those kick away, and I thought as a group  

we were very aggressive at grabbing those long rebounds," said Lady  

Cards head coach Allen Burchett.

    Samantha Sexton connected on 5 of 12 field goal attempts and 2 of 4  

free throws to total 12 points, with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Jamie  

Roberts added 8 points and a season high 7 rebounds, as Wayne County  

enjoyed a 41-34 rebound advantage.

    Heather Rigney contributed 4 points with 4 boards, while TaShea  

Pyles scored 3 points to round out the Lady Cards starters in the  

scoring column. The bench provided a solid effort in the win, as  

Kourtney Criswell and Hallie Gillespie both posted 3 and 5 rebounds  

each.

    "Everybody stepped up, and I like the contributions that we're  

getting from off the bench. Kourtney and Hallie combined for 10  

rebounds, so our rebounding effort was by committee. Even though Tori  

Bell didn't score, I thought she gave us some solid minutes with no  

turnovers. We still have another couple spots in our rotations that I  

hope we can get some production from," said Burchett.

    Southwestern, which lost their second straight district game to drop  

to 2-3 in league play, was led by the career high and game high 34  

points of Destiny Molden.

    The freshman guard shot 11 of 22 from the field, which included a 2  

of 7 mark from 3-point range and converted on 10 of 11 free throws.  

Adison Corder added 16 points and 6 rebounds, as six different Lady  

Warriors etched the scoring Margin.

    "Southwestern has a good basketball team, and to their credit, they  

battled back in the fourth quarter. We knew they weren't going to  

quit, and they are so dangerous from behind the 3-point line, off the  

drive. Molden had 18 points in the fourth quarter, and we struggled  

to defend their drive and kicks. We adjusted a couple of times, but  

they adjusted as well and made some big shots. We made enough free  

throws to keep the lead, so just credit Southwestern on a nice  

quarter. It was more about what they were doing and not so much about  

what we didn't do late," said Burchett.

    Jessica Hardin led all players with 8 points in the opening period,  

as Wayne County made 6 of 15 field goal attempts, while taking a 14-7  

lead. Southwestern answered right back with Destiny Molden's 8 points  

in the second quarter as the Lady Warriors used a 15-7 run to own a  

22-21 halftime edge.

    Five different Lady Cards scored in the third frame, and the hosts  

converted on 8 of 9 free throws, during an 18-8 spurt, as Wayne  

County claimed a 39-30 advantage after three stanzas.

    Molden totaled 18 points in the final quarter, but Wayne County made  

16 of 21 free throws down the stretch and used the 15 points of  

Hardin to hold on for a 65-60 win.

    The Lady Cards finished 19 of 49 overall for 39 percent and tallied  

on 1 of 11 3-pointers for 9 percent.

    The winners connected on 26 of 35 free throws for 74 percent and  

totaled 6 assists with 6 steals, against 10 turnovers.

    Southwestern shot 19 of 59 overall for 32 percent and made 6 of 19 3-

pointers for 32 percent. The squad converted on 16 of 18 free throw  

attempts for 89 percent and finished with 9 turnovers.

    Wayne County improved to 7-11 overall and has the inside track to  

the district's number one seed with a 3-1 mark.

    "We are certainly glad to win and would like to get the top seed,  

but our district is so balanced, I'm not very sure the seeding will  

matter. The district tournament will come down to the team that is  

playing the best and executes for two straight games," said Burchett.

    Up next for the squad was a Saturday afternoon match up with  

Washington County in the Marion County Autism Classic. The Lady Cards  

claimed a 72-66 win and all details will be in next week's edition of  

The Outlook.