The Wayne County Lady Cards met South-western, last Thursday night in the championship game of 48th District Tournament, at Southwestern High School Gym.
The Lady Cards entered with a 16-13 mark on the season and advanced
into the matchup with an impressive 86-61 win over McCreary Central
in the opening round on Tuesday. The Lady Warriors owned the number
one seed and had a bye, after posting a 23-5 mark on the regular
season and were coming off a 67-64 home win over Mercer County, to
end the regular season.
The teams split in the regular season with Southwestern winning at
home on December 17 65-37 and Wayne County repaid the favor on
January 14 with a 55-49 home win. The Lady Warriors have won the
previous seven district championships, while the Lady Cards were
looking for their first since they beat Southwestern 54-39 on
February 23 of 2012 at McCreary Central's Raider Gym.
Southwestern dominated the early action and built a 24-9 first
quarter lead and the Lady Cards played catch-up the rest of the night
as the homestanding Lady Warriors claimed a 67-54 championship win.
Senior Regi Cundiff led a balanced attack with a game high 18 points,
plus grabbed 5 rebounds with 4 assists, while the duo of Alexa Smiddy
and Kennedy Harris each added 15 points. Cundiff was 7 of 11 from
the field and 3 of 4 from the free throw line, in 26-minutes of
action, while Harris connected on 4 of 10 from the floor, which
included 2 of 5 from the point range and 2 of 4 from the charity
stripe with 4 boards. Smiddy, a 5-6 junior was 6 of 12 from the
floor and 2 of 4 from the free throw line, plus totaled a game high 5
assists with 6 boards, as the winners improved to 24-5 on the season.
"We knew that we would get their full attention and best effort
after we won at our place last month and credit Southwestern that's a
championship program. They have so much big-game experience and we
didn't have an answer early, then we fought to get back in it the
rest of the night. Our kids never quit and fought to get it back to
single digits and had the ball within 7-points but it just wasn't our
night, so credit Southwestern. They have four starters back and
another four or five key reserves from last year's regional
championship team, so we knew it would be a big challenge. We had to
shoot the ball well and hold our own on the backboards, we just
didn't make near enough shots," said Wayne County head coach Mark
McKinley.
Senior guard Jenna Woods made it four winners in double figures with
13 points, connecting on 4 of 6 from the field, which included 3 of 5
from 3-point range and 5 of 6 from the free throw line, plus added 3
rebounds. Kylie Foreman posted 4 points with 3 boards off the bench
and McKayla Noritis scored 2 points, as six different Lady Warriors
scored in the win.
Wayne County, which dropped to 16-14 on the season, was led by the
16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists of Macey Blevins, as the junior
was 5 of 20 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free throw line, while
logging all 32 minutes. Senior Haleigh Criswell converted on 4 of 8
3-pointers to add 12 points and 5 rebounds, as the Lady Cards shot
just 30 percent from the field, while Southwestern made 50 percent of
their field attempts.
"We struggled to stop their offense and struggled, especially early
to put the ball in the basket. Hopefully we'll learn from this as
the good thing is we advance to live another day and fight another
day. We certainly played hard, we just have to play better, which we
know that we can do, as we still haven't had a night where we've put
it all together and get another chance to do that against a very good
Mercer County in the region," said McKinley.
Jade Turner finished 3 of 10 from the floor and added a free throw
to net 9 points with 3 boards, while sophomore reserve Amber Jones
provided a big spark with 8 points, tallying on 3 of 6 from the
floor, which included 2 of 5 from 3-point range. Mallory Campbell
posted 6 points with 6 boards and Kenzie Upchurch totaled 3 points
with 4 rebounds, as the Lady Cards claimed a 29-25 rebounding edge.
Regi Cundiff netted 8 points in the opening minutes and Alexa Smiddy
added 7 points, as Southwestern opened 10 of 14 from the floor and
limited Wayne County to just 3 of 12 shooting as the Lady Warriors
raced to a 24-9 first quarter lead.
Wayne County battled back in the second stanza and used back to back
threes by Haleigh Criswell to spark a 14-9 run to close the gap to
33-23 at intermission.
Five different Lady Warriors scored in the third frame and the hosts
answered with a 14-9 run of their own to push the lead out to 47-32
after 24 minutes of play.
Jade Turner scored all 9 of her points down the stretch and Wayne
County closed the scored to single digits on different occasions but
Kennedy Harris answered with 8 points and Southwestern made 10 of 14
free throws down the stretch to claim the 67-54 championship win.
The Lady Warriors shot 24 of 48 overall from the field for 50
percent and that included a 7 of 18 mark from 3-point range for 39
percent. The winners connected on 12 of 18 free throw attempts for
67 percent and tallied 12 assists against 9 turnovers.
Wayne County made 16 of 53 field goal attempts for 30 percent and
that included a 9 of 29 clip from 3-point range for 31 percent. The
squad marked on 13 of 16 free throw attempts for 81 percent and
tallied 9 assists against 13 turnovers.
At the conclusion of the tournament Allyson Anderson, Elizabeth
Anderson of McCreary Central were joined on the All-Tournament by
Wayne's Macey Blevins, Haleigh Criswell and Mallory Campbell, while
the foursome of Jenna Wood, Alexa Smiddy, Regi Cundiff and Kennedy
Harris were all selected from Southwestern.
Up next for the Lady Cards is a Tuesday night date with 46th
District champs Mercer County, as the Lady Titans are 22-8 on the
season and the squads met on February 1 in the Kenny Davis Classic
with Mercer County claiming a 59-49 win.
Details on the matchup in next week's edition of The Outlook.
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