Heidi has Lady Hornets Buzzing
T.J. Morgan, Jobe Publishing, Inc.
The Lady Hornets made a trip to Bowling Green late Monday night for the first round of the 4th region tournament. Diddle has become familiar territory for the Lady Hornets program, as they have now made the trip eight consecutive seasons. The three-peat 16th district champion Lady Hornets played the nightcap against 13th district runner-up Logan County.
Bree Jolly came out of the gate knocking down two quick 3s, pushing the Lady Hornets out to an early lead. The Lady Hornets would take a 17-11 lead into the second quarter. Behind 8th grader Jozie Allen’s 8 first-half points, Metcalfe would push their lead out to nine at the half, 28-19. The Lady Hornets held Logan County’s leading scorer, Gracie Borders, scoreless in the first half thanks to an excellent defensive effort by Anna Grace Blythe. Through three quarters, the Lady Hornets were still holding steady in front a largely maroon crowd, 40-34.
Whistles would become much more frequent in the fourth, and on top of a late rally, Logan County would add four straight from the charity stripe, taking the lead for the first time, 48-46 with just under two minutes remaining. Metcalfe would quickly answer, sending a now thrilling back-and-forth game to overtime. Just as she opened up regulation, Bree Jolly would knock down a 3 for the Lady Hornets to begin overtime. Although Logan would answer, it would be freshman Aubrey Glass that would knock down three clutch free throws to give Metcalfe their final lead of the game, securing a 56-55 Lady Hornet victory. Bree Jolly led the girls with 15 points. Jozie Allen and Kassady London also put up double figures, chipping in 14 and 11.
The Lady Hornets will now advance to the regional semifinals late Friday night against Bowling Green, who defeated Glasgow earlier in the first round Monday night. The semifinals are not foreign territory for this group of ladies. While young, the Lady Hornets are veterans of postseason play, with a core that is now 8-2 in the postseason over the last three seasons. While the Lady Hornets haven’t played Bowling Green in nearly 15 years, Metcalfe isn’t heading into a situation where they will be intimidated. The Lady Hornets have been dominating for the vast majority of this postseason, trailing for less than a minute of their three games. Coach Heidi has these now 20-win Lady Hornets buzzing and they will certainly be planning to make history with a Friday night victory that would make them the first Lady Hornet team to advance to the 4th region finals since 1992.
Coach Heidi Coleman coaching up the Lady Hornets Monday night at Diddle (Picture courtesy of Metcalfe County Schools)
