Monticello — The Wayne County Lady Cardinals hosted 48th District rival McCreary Central last Tuesday night at Cardinal gym. Wayne County was coming off a disappointing 58-40 loss to Green County in the Southern Kentucky Shootout, while the Lady Raiders dropped a 54-41 decision to Adair County in the same event, at McCreary Central. Both teams were looking for their first win of the season as the Lady Cards owned a 0-5 mark and Central entered with a 0-3 record.

Wayne County raced to a 19-9 lead, never trailed and used the game highs of 22 points and 9 rebounds of Jessica Hardin, en route to a 61-41 district win. Hardin, a 5-9 freshman guard, shot 7 of 17 from the field and 5 of 9 from the free throw line, with 3 three-pointers, in just over 27 minutes of play.

"This was a very good district win for our young team and we had a lot of people step up and shoot the ball well. Jessica has put together back-to-back good games and I like her aggressive attitude. I thought she really attacked the backboard rebounding and had a nice scoring night," said Lady Cards head coach Tim Pyles.

The Lady Cards made a season high 10 3-pointers, while improving to 1-5 overall on the season and 1-1 in district play.

"I thought this was by far our best effort of the season. We had three players score in double figures and a lot of that is due to the fact we shot the ball from behind the arc pretty well. We also rebounded very well as a team and hopefully getting a win will give us the boost of confidence we need," said Pyles.

Sophomore forward Tashea Pyles added 14 points with 3 boards, aided by a career best 4 3-pointers. Pyles finished 5 of 12 from the field, while Kayla Bowlin posted 12 points, 6 rebounds and a game high 7 assists. Bowlin made 3 of 4 free throws and connected on 3 treys, while logging 31 minutes of action.

"Tashea shot the three well and Kayla's rounding back into form after being off a couple of games. I thought she distributed the ball well and we made some shots, which once that happened our intensity raised on the defensive side," said Pyles.

Samantha Sexton added 6 points off the bench and Kourtney Criswell tallied as seven different Lady Cards scored in the win.

McCreary Central, which dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in league play, placed two scorers in double digits led by the 17 points of 5-8 freshman forward Candace Foster. Foster shot 7 of 14 from the field and 1 of 1 from the charity stripe, plus grabbed a team best 7 rebounds, in over 30 minutes of play.

"Candace Foster is a very talented player and has very nice potential for such a young player. She's very impressive and McCreary Central has a lot of talent and athleticism. They have three or four seniors that play, so they will be a factor in the district and in the postseason," said Pyles.

Senior guard Kayla Morgan shot a perfect 4 of 4 from the field and tallied on 4 of 6 free throws to net 12 points, as six different Lady Raiders scored in the contest.

The Wayne County duo of Hardin and Pyles scored 6 points each in the opening quarter, as the hosts totaled 4 3-pointers, while racing to a 19-9 lead. Central opened just 2 of 11 from the field and was paced by the 4 points of Candace Foster.

"We got off to a very fast start and I think with such a young team that's very important. We took good shots and that's a key, because in the second quarter our shot selection was poor at times and we allowed them right back in the game," said Pyles.

Foster added 7 more points in the second stanza and the Lady Raiders used a 12-8 spurt, to close the Wayne County lead to 27-21, at halftime. The hosts shot a dismal 2 of 12 from the field in the period.

The Lady Cards added 4 more 3-pointers in the third frame, led by the 8 points of Tashea Pyles, to use and 18-8 run, to push to a 45-29 lead.

Wayne County made 9 of 15 free throws in the final quarter and used the

8 points of Jessica Hardin, to cruise to a 61-41 win. The Lady Raiders would never threaten, plagued by a 4 of 13 effort from the field, in the final 8 minutes.

"After such a tough start, this was a good team effort and I'm proud of our kids. We hopefully will build on this and use the momentum to carry us into the holiday tournament portion of our schedule," said Pyles.

Sydney Hicks contributed 2 points and Taylor Alexander tallied 1 point, to round out the Lady Cards in the scoring column.

McCreary Central finished 15 of 40 overall for 38 percent and that included a 3 of 12 effort from behind the arc for 25 percent. The visitors made 8 of 11 free throws for 73 percent and finished with 13 turnovers.

Wayne County, which claimed a 40-23 rebound advantage, shot 19 of 49 overall for 39 percent, which included a 10 of 24 effort from 3-point range for 42 percent. The squad marked on 13 of 21 free throws for 62 percent and totaled 12 assists, with 4 steals, against 12 turnovers. The Lady Cards owned a 17-2 second chance points edge, aided by a 17-4 offensive rebound advantage.

Up next for the Lady Cards was a Saturday date with undefeated Madisonville-North Hopkins, in the first round of the Republic Bank Lady Knights Holiday Classic, at Lexington Catholic.