Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans hosted 48th District rival McCreary Central, last Saturday night at MHS Gym, in an important district contest for both teams. Monticello entered with a 5-7 mark overall and 1-2 district tally, while Central owned a 1-1 league mark with a 3-8 record overall on the season.

The Lady Trojans were coming off an impressive 73-66 overtime win over Heath in the final round of the Daviess County Independence Bank Holiday Classic. Central was coming off a 51-38 loss to Southwestern, in the Pulaski County Invitational. The teams met just over two weeks earlier with the Lady Raiders claiming a 55-50 home win.

Monticello was playing their fifth game in seven days and while the hosts didn't look extremely sharp, the Lady Trojans used a 30-22 decisive second half run to take a 48-41 district win. Sophomore forward Malesha Hughes netted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Cortney Morrow totaled 12 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in the win.

Hughes connected on 11 of 16 free throw attempts and 3 of 8 field goal attempts, while Morrow tallied on 3 of 8 from the field, plus made 4 of 6 free throws, as the Lady Trojans shot 26 percent from the field.

"We played extremely hard and after playing so well in Owensboro, I think we wanted to play so well at home. Maybe it was the excitement of being back home, or nerves, but we really struggled to shoot the ball.

Malesha played very aggressive around the basket, we just need her to get more strength to make some of her attempts around the basket area for some three-point plays. Cortney had another solid effort and this was a good home district win. We can't worry about style points the key is getting the win, which we were able to do," said Marla Kelsch.

8th grade guard Mariah Hughes posted 7 points and 4 steals, while Lacey Alley scored 6 points with a game high 13 rebounds. Jackie Anderson tallied

3 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and 4 assists, while Tiara Duncan and Brittney Crabtree finished with 2 and 1 point each, as seven different Lady Trojans scored in the win.

McCreary Central, which dropped to 3-9, placed two scorers in double figures led by the 12 points of Candace Foster. The freshman forward totaled

5 field goals and made 1 of 2 free throw attempts, while Holly Stephens finished with 10 points. Stephens totaled 4 field goals, with 2 of those coming from behind the 3-point arc, as six Lady Raiders scored in the match up.

"McCreary Central is a much improved basketball team, so we're happy to get our second win and hopefully stay away from the fourth seed in the tournament. We have a lot of basketball to be played, but with Southwestern being the favorite and hosting, I think everyone wants to stay away from the fourth seed. Central certainly with all of their experience will be a factor when everything is settled," said Kelsch.

Cortney Morrow led the hosts with 5 points in the opening period and Monticello used three scorers to answer the 7 points of Chelsey Smith, to take a 9-7 lead.

The Lady Raiders battled back in the second stanza and used a balanced offensive attack, with solid defense to use a 12-9 spurt, to claim a 19-18 halftime edge. The Lady Trojans shot just 10 of 17 from the free throw line in the half and totaled only 3 field goals.

"We couldn't buy a basket from the field and we also struggled to make our free throws. We had good shots, we just couldn't get any baskets to fall," said Kelsch.

Five different Monticello players scored in the third frame and the squad heated-up to make 6 field goal attempts, to use a 13-9 tilt to claim a

31-28 advantage.

Malesha Hughes posted 7 points in the final quarter and younger sister Mariah added 5 points, as the Lady Trojans ended the game with a 17-13 edge, to claim a 48-41 district win.

"I thought we played better in the second half. Anytime you get a district win, it's big, so I thought this was a great way to open the 2010 portion of our schedule," said Kelsch.

McCreary Central finished 17 of 47 overall from the field for 36 percent, which included a 4 of 13 effort from 3-point range for 31 percent.

The visitors made 3 of 6 free throw attempts for 50 percent and finished with 19 turnovers.

Monticello, which claimed a 42-34 rebound advantage, shot 13 of 51 overall for 26 percent and marked on 4 of 24 3-pointers for 17 percent. The squad converted on 18 of 33 free throws for 55 percent and totaled 13 assists, with 13 steals, against 13 turnovers.

Up next for the Lady Trojans is two big road district games, as the team travels to Southwestern on Tuesday night and goes cross-town to face Wayne County on Friday night.

"The All "A" really forces us to finish all of our district games early in the schedule, but that's the way it has to be. We have to make the dates fit whenever we can, plus we've already had two Saturday home games canceled. I think the good thing is we're improving as a team, we know this week will be a tough challenge," said Kelsch.

Details on both district games will be in next week's edition of The Outlook.