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Garrard County knocks off Lady Cards 44-33 in opening round of the 12th Region Tournament Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Lady Cardinals met Garrard County last Wednesday night at Lincoln County High School in the opening round of the 12th Region Tournament. The Lady Cards entered with a 21-8 record, while the Lady Lions owned a 15-9 overall mark. The teams last met on January 26 at the Cardinal gym with Wayne County claiming a 58-36 decision. Garrard County used a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take a 23-22 lead and dominated the final minutes with a 21-11 tally en route to claiming a 44-33 win. The Lady Lions made 14 of 17 free throws down the stretch to advance into a semifinals matchup with Rockcastle County on Monday night. "Defensively I thought we did the job, but our offense struggled all night long. We never really regained our focus after winning the district and as the head coach that's my responsibility. So I take the blame for not having our team as individuals ready to play. We played hard, but our focus and intensity just wasn't there," said Wayne County Coach Tim Pyles. Garrard County was led by the duo of Sydney Napier and Ashley Meadows. Napier connected on 6 of 6 free throws and added 13 points, as the Lady Lions improved to 16-9 on the season. The winners claimed a 28-21 rebound advantage and made the most of 26 Wayne County turnovers. Wayne County, which dropped to 21-9 and was ousted in the opening round of the 12th Region Tournament for the first time since 2000, failed to place a scorer in double digits. Freshman guard Kayla Jones led the attack with 8 points, plus totaled 3 rebounds and 3 steals. The squad finished with a season low 3 assists and failed to make a 3-pointer in 11 attempts. "Anytime you have a lot of standing around and little movement, I think that's a sign of nerves. I think our youthfulness really showed on the offensive end. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for our returning players," said Pyles. Heather Stearns added 6 points with a team high 7 rebounds and 4 steals, while Meg Latham tallied 6 points. Courtney Duncan contributed 5 points, as six different Lady Cards scored in the contest. The senior tandem of Kara Gothrup and Latoyia Green netted 4 points each. Green logged 31 minutes of action and totaled 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. "This was a disappointing end to the season and I certainly hate it for our two seniors. They have been such great leaders on and off the floor. I just wished we could've played better," said Pyles. Defense and poor shooting dominated the early action, as Garrard County edged to a 7-6 lead. Three different players scored for each team in the opening frame. Kayla Jones led all players with 6 points in the second stanza, including two free throws after the horn which gave Wayne County a 15-14 halftime lead. "We were really out of sync and Kayla made some big steals which she converted to layups. I thought we had the momentum going to the locker room after a poor first half," said Pyles. The third frame opened with a Wayne County 7-2 run which pushed the lead to 22-16, but Garrard County answered back with a run of their own. The Lady Lions ended the quarter with a 7-0 tilt which gave Garrard a 23-22 lead. Four different Lady Lions scored in the final period as the squad tallied on 14 of 17 free throws and used a 21-11 advantage to take a 44-33 win. Sydney Napier netted 9 of her 15 points in the period. Wayne County closed the score to 35-31 with under two minutes to play, but couldn't get any closer as Garrard sealed the win at the charity stripe. "We never quit and I'm proud of that. Putting the ball in the basket has been a problem the past couple of years and it's almost impossible to win when you shoot like we did. I thought we had some good looks, but the shots just didn't drop," said Pyles. The Lady Cards shot 11 of 44 overall for 25 percent and missed on all 11 3-pointers attempted. The squad made 11 of 19 free throws for 58 percent and totaled 14 steals against 26 turnovers. Garrard County tallied on 12 of 41 attempts overall for 29 percent and made 2 of 8 3-pointers for 25 percent. The Lady Lions converted on 18 of 25 free throws for 72 percent and totaled 6 steals with 4 assists against 26 turnovers. "Give Garrard County a lot of credit, they made the plays to win the game," said Pyles. The loss ended the Lady Cards' season at 21-9 and marked the end of the careers of Latoyia Green and Kara Gothrup. "To be a part of two region titles, one elite eight appearance and four district championships, says a lot about these two. Their leadership has been so valuable and this season has been such a learning experience for our team," said Pyles. Congratulations to the Lady Cards on a 10th straight district title. Add a comment |
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