Shannon Hutchinson, Sports Writer
Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans hosted 12th Region foe Garrard County last
Friday night at MHS Gym in a match-up of two of the surprise teams of the
region. Monticello entered with an 8-8 record and was coming off a 55-51
home loss to Casey County earlier in the week. The Lady Lions own an
impressive 10-3 mark and was coming off a 60-48 road win over West Jessamine
in their last outing. The contest marked the Lady Trojans' last game before
the All "A" 12th Region Tournament in Somerset.
"I think we have been playing our best basketball of the season the past
three weeks so I think it was important that we bounced back after a tough
loss to Casey County. We didn't play very well early or shoot the ball well
early but our kids battled with a nice run late in the third quarter. Once
again we didn't play great but we did enough good things to get the win and
head into the All ŒA' on a high note," said MHS head coach Marla Kelsch.
Monticello trailed most of the first half but grabbed a 24-20 halftime
lead but gave the lead up early only to use a 14-2 run late in the third
period and early in the fourth en route to a 54-41 win.
Eighth grade guard Mariah Hughes scored a game high 17 points, grabbed a
game high 5 steals, plus contributed 7 rebounds in 28 minutes of play.
Hughes shot an impressive 8 of 12 from the field, while Cortney Morrow
posted a double-double with 13 points and a game high 11 assists. Morrow
shot 4 of 9 from the field with 2 3-pointers and converted on 3 of 3 free
throws, as the Lady Trojans won their fifth game in six opportunities to
improve to 9-8 on the season.
"Garrard County is a big, strong and another physical basketball team,
so despite our trouble shooting I'm very happy to get the win. At times we
played pretty good defense and once again credit Mariah with five steals,"
said Kelsch.
Malesha Hughes battled through a 5 of 17 shooting effort from the field
to post 12 points and 9 boards. Lacey Alley finished 2 of 11 from the field
to net 5 points with a team best 10 rebounds as Monticello enjoyed a 35-30
rebound advantage.
"We just had one of those shooting nights, especially early. We missed
some easy ones around the basket but I thought our rebounding effort was
pretty solid. Malesha and Lacey were both very active on the boards," said
Kelsch.
Tiara Duncan netted 3 points while Jackie Anderson and Brittney Crabtree
tallied 2 points each, as seven different Lady Trojans scored in the win.
Garrard County, which dropped to 10-4, placed two scorers in double
digits led by the play of Kelly Smith. Smith, a freshman center, shot 4 of 8
from the field and 2 of 4 from the charity-line to tally 10 points with a
game high 11 rebounds. Junior guard Haley Meadeno added 10 points to offset
6 turnovers as six different Lady Lions scored in the win.
Garrard County used a very balanced attack in the opening quarter as six
players etched the scoring margin as the visitors battled to a 13-13 draw.
Mariah Hughes kept Monticello close with 6 points in the period as the hosts
opened 6 of 15 from the field.
Monticello claimed their first lead of the night with 5:52 left in the
first half and used an 11-7 surge to push to a 24-20 halftime lead.
The Lady Lions used the 5 points of Haley Meadeno to reclaim the lead at
30-28 with under a minute to play in the third frame, but the Lady Trojans
battled back with a 7-0 spurt of their own to claim a 35-30 tilt after 24
minutes.
"Garrard County battled back to take the lead but I thought we responded
with some big shots of our own. The momentum carried on over to the fourth
quarter and we put the game out of reach," said Kelsch.
Monticello opened the final 8 minutes with a 7-0 run and used the 8
points of Cortney Morrow to end the game with a 19-11 edge which pushed the
final score to 54-41.
The Lady Lions finished 17 of 44 overall from the field for 38 percent
and missed all 8 3-point shot attempts. The squad was 7 of 15 from the free
throw line for 47 percent and finished with 20 turnovers, which led to 15
Lady Trojan points.
Monticello shot 22 of 56 overall from the field for 42 percent and
marked on 5 of 19 3-pointers for 26 percent. The winners shot 5 of 12 from
the free throw line for 42 percent and totaled 16 assists with 11 steals
against 19 turnovers.
Up next for the squad is an All "A" opening round match-up with Burgin.
Danville and Somerset will meet in the other first round match-up. All games
are a the Somerset High School Gym.
The Lady Trojans won last year's regional championship to advance to
EKU's McBrayer Arena.
"It's certainly one of the goals of this team and we've played a very
tough schedule to prepare. Burgin has a nice team and we know we'll have to
play well, so the All "A" should be an exciting week for our team," said
Kelsch.
Details on all the action in next week's Outlook.