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Lady Cardinals blast Bullitt East 68-40 Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Lady Cardinals met Bullitt East last Tuesday night at Russell County Gym in the semifinals of the Laker One Stop Holiday Classic. The Lady Cards advanced into the contest with an 81-54 win over Glasgow, while East was coming off a 60-42 first round win over Taylor County. Wayne County owned a 6-1 record, while Bullitt East, a Sweet 16 participant two of the last three seasons, owned a 5-2 mark. Wayne County won every quarter and used a 43-23 second half advantage to claim a 68-40 win. Freshman reserve guard Heather Stearns scored a game high 19 points with 8 rebounds, as nine different Lady Cards scored in the win. Stearns connected on 11 of 14 free throws to offset a 4 of 15 effort from the field. Classmate Meg Latham added 18 points, aided by an 8 of 10 effort from the charity-stripe, plus grabbed 9 boards with a season best 3 blocks, as Wayne County converted on 35 of 45 free throws. "This was probably Heather's best all-around game this season. She really attacked the basket well and I also thought Meg played a very solid game against the big and physical inside players of Bullitt East. Meg really made good decisions with the basketball, plus our perimeter people really found her at the right time. Our timing and execution was pretty good," said Lady Cards Coach Tim Pyles. A third freshman also provided a big effort, as reserve guard Kayla Jones added a career high 11 points. Jones shot 3 of 9 from the field and 5 of 8 from the free throw line, plus grabbed 5 boards in just under 18 minutes of action. "Kayla was very active and really made some nice cuts on the offensive end. She really helped our guards against their traps and as a team we made some nice passes," said Pyles. Courtney Duncan contributed 7 points, while Latoyia Green grabbed a season high 13 rebounds with 6 points and 5 steals. The Lady Cards claimed a 42-34 rebound edge, while improving to 7-1 on the season. Bullitt East, which dropped to 5-3, shot a dismal 20 percent from the field and was plagued by 28 turnovers. East placed just one scorer in double digits, led by the 12 points of guard Whitney Hanley. Hanley shot just 5 of 20 from the field, as six different East players scored in the game. "Bullitt East is a very talented team that loves to trap on the defensive end. I thought we handled their pressure pretty well and this was a very good win against a very solid opponent," said Pyles. Four different Lady Cards scored in the opening frame to offset the 9 points of Whitney Hanley, as Wayne County claimed a 15-9 lead. Wayne County opened 6 of 11 from the field, while East tallied on 4 of 13 field goal attempts. Wayne County's Jones led all players with 11 points in the first half, as the squad used a 10-8 second stanza to push to a 25-17 halftime advantage. Courtney Duncan added all 7 of her points in the third period, as the Lady Cards used a 15-8 run to claim a 40-25 lead. Bullitt East made just 3 of 18 field goal attempts in the quarter. The duo of Stearns and Latham accounted for 20 of Wayne County's 28 points in the final quarter, as the winners used a 28-15 run to cruise to a 68-40 semifinals win. The trio of Lindsey Dishman, Samantha Sexton and Kayla Bowlin all netted 2 points each in the win. Bowlin added 4 assists, while Kara Gothrup totaled a team high 5 assists with 1 point, as the Lady Cards finished with 15 assists. A review of the stats shows Bullitt East shot 12 of 59 overall for 20 percent and connected on 3 of 16 3-pointers for 19 percent. They totaled 10 steals against 28 miscues and marked on 13 of 20 free throws for 65 percent. Wayne County shot 16 of 52 overall for 31 percent and tallied on 1 of 13 3-pointers for 8 percent. The squad totaled 10 steals against 24 turnovers and made a season high 35 of 45 free throws for 78 percent. "In this game I thought we really followed the game plan well and that has been one of this team's drawbacks. Attention to small details will help avoid little mistakes that can lead to bigger mistakes. I was really proud of how we handled that in this game," said Pyles. The win advanced Wayne County into a Wednesday night championship game battle with 4th Region foe Bowling Green. Details on that game in a related story. Add a comment |
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