Monticello — The Wayne County Lady Cardinals met 4th ranked Sacred Heart, on December 20, in the second round of the Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic. Wayne County entered the match-up with a 2-5 record and was coming off an impressive 59-57 upset win over Madison-ville-North Hopkins, a day earlier in the opening round. The Valkyries owned a 4-1 mark and advanced into the contest with a 64-61 win over top 10 ranked Bowling Green.

Monica McGreal scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as Sacred Heart jumped-out to a 16-6 lead and never trailed, en route to a 66-47 second round win. McGreal shot 6 of 14 from the field and 3 of 5 from the free throw line, as three different Valkyries scored in double figures.

"Sacred Heart, as usual, is loaded with great athletes, good length and we just couldn't answer their talent. We competed very well and never gave up, which should be something to build on. They are ranked in the top 5 and deservedly so, but I think we matured some in this game. We battled back in the second half and even cut the lead to 6 points, but couldn't sustain our run. Give credit to Sacred Heart, they have an extremely good basketball team," said Lady Cards head coach Tim Pyles.

Mary Gordon Strough shot 4 of 9 from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 from the charity-stripe to add 12 points, while Maddie Peabody finished with 11 points. Peabody connected on 5 of 6 field goal attempts, with a 3-pointer as eight different Sacred Heart players etched the scoring margin.

"They also have great depth, they can go 10 deep and their level of play doesn't drop off," said Pyles.

The winners finished with 21 field goal attempts, a stat not lost on the head coach.

"We have to do a better job boxing-out and rebounding on both ends of the floor. It's hard to beat anybody that gets over 20 more shots at the basket, but we felt like going into the game, their size would be a problem," said Pyles.

Wayne County, which had a two-game winning streak snapped, placed two scorers in double digits, led by the 17 points of Jessica Hardin. Hardin, a

5-9 freshman guard, shot 5 of 14 overall from the field, with a 2 of 4 mark from 3-point range, plus connected on 5 of 6 free throw attempts.

"I really think Jessica has put together some solid games the past couple of weeks and that's a credit to her understanding her role. We are playing so many different people and with our lack of experience, it just takes time," said Pyles.

Kayla Bowlin finished 5 of 12 from the field with 2 3-pointers and connected on 3 of 6 from the foul-line to total 15 points. TaShea Pyles netted 5 points and Taylor Alexander contributed 4 points, while the trio of Jamie Roberts, Hallie Gillespie and Samantha Sexton tallied 2 points each, as seven different Lady Cards scored in the contest.

"Anytime we come here, we play some of the top teams in the state, so we just need to learn from this valuable experience. We can't get down, or feel sorry for ourselves, which I think one of the positives was we didn't. We played very hard for 32 minutes," said Pyles.

Four different Valkyries scored in the opening quarter, as the Louisville squad raced to a 16-6 lead. Wayne County opened 3 of 9 from the floor, led by the 4 points of Jessica Hardin.

Maddie Peabody led all players with 11 points in the first half and SHA used a 16-12 tilt in the second period to claim a 32-18 halftime advantage.

The Valkyries shot 15 of 32 from the field in the half, while the Lady Cards converted on 7 of 9 free throws to stay within striking distance.

The teams played on even terms in the third quarter, as Wayne County used the 7 points of Hardin to battle to a 12-12 draw, which left the score 44-30, after three frames.

"We played the middle quarters to a 28-24 score, which I'm not sure we've done that against them before. To come from where we started this season, no question we are getting better. I just wish we could be a more consistent team," said Pyles.

Sacred Heart tallied on 8 of 14 field goals down the stretch and 4 of 6 free throws, to end the game with a 22-17 spurt, which gave winners a final margin of 66-47. Kayla Bowlin paced the locals with 8 points, in the final quarter.

The Valkyries finished 27 of 62 overall from the field for 44 percent and made 3 of 7 3-pointers for 43 percent. SHA connected on 9 of 17 free throws for 53 percent and finished with 11 turnovers.

Wayne County shot 16 of 41 overall from the field for 39 percent, which included a 5 of 13 effort from 3-point range for 38 percent. The squad marked on 10 of 15 free throws for 67 percent and finished with 28 turnovers.

Up next for the Lady Cards was a match-up with former 12th Region rival South Laurel. The now 13th Region member was dropped into the consolation bracket with a 61-33 loss to #1 Marion County. Details on that match-up in a related story inside this edition of the Outlook.