RICHMOND - Bardstown made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game Wednesday to hold off a furious Elliott County rally and advance to the quarterfinals of the girls' "All A" Classic with a 68-60 win. Bardstown senior Elise Blanford was "very relieved" to move on to a quarterfinal matchup today at 10:30 a.m. at Eastern Kentucky University's McBrayer Arena with 6th Region champ Louisville Holy Cross (11-5), which knocked off Crittenden County (9-9) of the 2nd Region. "We knew we had to play great defense," she said. Bardstown (19-4) harassed Elliott County (11-10) into a difficult shooting day, limiting the 16th Region champs to only 19-of-61 (31 percent) from the field. Blanford swatted away three Lion shots. The Tigers, however, had no such trouble knocking down their attempts. Bardstown hit nearly 55 percent from the field (28-for-51), and seized control of the game by opening with a 10-2 run. "The first half we came out a little nervous," Elliott County coach Mark Cantrell said. "Their speed threw us off early." Each time the Tigers stretched their lead out; however, the Lions knocked down a big shot to keep things close. Jhonda Ison hit a three to cut Bardstown's lead to 25-20, and the Lions drew to 26-23 after Lakin Griffith hit another trey with 56 seconds before halftime. "They have no fear when it comes to shooting the three," Bardstown coach Paul Stone marveled. Bardstown got the momentum back, scoring the final six points of the half to go into the locker room with a 32-23 lead. The run into the second half eventually extended to 20-6 when Shanissa Douglas hit a layup off a Daizah Kimberland assist, giving the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 46-29 with 2:59 to play in the third quarter. After that, the turnover bug that had been nibbling steadily at Bardstown's heels, took out a big chunk. The Tigers had five miscues to finish out the third quarter, then opened the fourth period with turnovers on four of their first six possessions. "We just can't do that," Stone said of his club's 30 miscues. The Lions' turnover-aided run grew to 21-5 when Kelsey Ferguson canned a three to cut Bardstown's lead to 51-50 with just under five minutes to play. "We got a good pep talk in the locker room," Ferguson said. "Once we started hitting, it felt good." Elliott County "really played with a lot of heart and they never quit playing," Stone said. Ferguson, one of four Lions with 14 points, hit a pair of free throws following a Candyce Lewis bucket to trim Bardstown's lead to 53-52, but Douglas and Kimberland took over from there. Douglas got a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup, then knocked down a bonus free throw after she was fouled. Seconds later, Kimberland snared a rebound off a missed three by Ferguson, went the length of the court and put the Tigers back up 58-52. "At the end we got nervous and really wanted to win," said Douglas, who hit 8-of-11 from the field in a sterling 19-point, nine-rebound, eight-assist, five-steal effort. "We just had to calm down and handle the ball better." The Lions got as close as two with 2:25 to go in the game, but back-to-back layups by Lewis and Kimberland and strong free throw shooting sealed the deal. Kimberland finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, four assists and five steals. Nine of her 26 came in the fourth quarter. "In the beginning, I knew I was being too unselfish," the freshman said. "I knew I had to step up and start taking more shots." Bardstown forced 22 Elliott County turnovers and outrebounded the Lions 44-27.
Peter W. Zubaty can be reached at 348-9003 Ext. 115 or by e-mail at pzubaty@kystandard.com.
"All A" Classic at McBrayer Arena, Eastern Kentucky University Bardstown 68, Elliott Co. 60 B 16 16 16 20-68 EC 11 12 16 21-60 B (68) - Ahern 6, Lagerroos 1, Kimberland 26, Lewis 8, Ball 4, Blanford 4, Douglas 19. EC (60) - K. Ferguson 14, S. Ferguson 14, Ison 14, Fannin 2, Adkins 2, Griffith 14
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KENTUCKY
