Lady Bears Nearly Advance
Sophomore Carly Cardwell locks in on the basketball as it comes off the rim. The Lady Bears were even in the rebound margin as Meade County limited them to 14 less than their average. PHOTO | Greg Moore
By Greg Moore
Banner Sports Editor
As 12th District Champions, the BCHS Lady Bears continued first round play in the 3rd Region Tournament at the Owensboro Sportscenter on Tuesday night against the runner-up of 11th District, the Meade County Lady Wave. A familiar opponent, who saw one another over two months prior, the Lady Wave sported a 17-11 overall record while being 8-5 in the region and 5-3 in their district.
Meade, who bested the Lady Bears in the Caveland Classic, was trying to keep the trend of the runner-up winning over a district champion. On Monday, Edmonson, runner-up to BC in the 12th, beat 10th winner McLean in overtime before Catholic, runner-up to Daviess, had a miraculous 4th quarter to take down Breckinridge, who had won the 11th.
Tuesday’s opener did not disappoint 3rd Region fans, which was represented by a wave of BC faithfuls, 3-1 over Meade’s representation. The Lady Bears played relentlessly all throughout the game, making all the Butler Countians proud for their accomplishments.
After being down by as many as seven in the first quarter, Butler County kept the affair within a possession or two before tying the game at 25, near mid-second quarter. Unfortunately, with turnovers mounting up for BC, the Lady Wave thrust ahead by nine later in the period.
Nevertheless, the Lady Bears stayed poised. Maddie Jones hit a jumper, and Ava Wilson had a rebound-putback to help swing momentum back as Brielle Belcher buried a deep three-pointer just before the buzzer. The Lady Bears went into the locker room down by only two points, 34-32.
Butler County played their best quarter of the game coming out of halftime. They would outscore the Lady Wave by four points to take a 47-45 advantage going into the final eight minutes of the tight affair.
Meade repositioned themselves in the first four minutes of the fourth, whereas, the Lady Bears found themselves out of sync. After a Karrington Hunt could not get a runner to fall, Wilson, who led them with 25 points and ten rebounds, snagged the miss for another and-one opportunity.
Senior Karrington Hunt surges through a swarm of green to put up the runner as junior Ava Wilson anticipates another offensive rebound putback. PHOTO | Greg Moore
The putback drew the game back within a possession and ended a scoring drought for over half the period. But, another Meade backdoor cut, which they feasted on all night, made it a five-point differential once again.
Ann Marie Skaggs, who made a strong presence on both ends of the floor, scored on a nice inbounds with a minute and a half left in the game to get back within three points. Unfortunately, Butler County missed its golden opportunity when another Lady Wave offensive rebound came after two missed free-throws.
Butler never could get another chance to tie the game over the last minute of play. Meade would close it out, hitting their last six attempts from the line to win, 60-53. Meade, whose half court execution and scoring in transition against BC was critical, earned the right to play Friday in the semifinals, where they lost to Daviess.
There were not many stat lines that stood out. Meade got easier shots, which led to a higher percentage, but both defenses played well. The Lady Bears, who still shot 10% better than their season average, may have not won the near even turnover battle; though, most all of them had some nice steals and blocks on the defensive end.
Karrington Hunt with the pull up jumper in transition. As a team, the Lady Bears shot over 10% higher from the field than their season average. PHOTO | Greg Moore
Credit to the Lady Wave, BC simply could not feed Wilson enough down the stretch. Wilson, who finished 10/13 from the floor including 3/5 from behind the arc, had to settle with only two putbacks in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Bears, who play with athleticism and emotion, have been exciting to watch throughout the season. Winning the 12th District Championship was an exceptional accomplishment after falling to Grayson and Edmonson during the regular season.
Butler finished 13-15 overall, 8-8 in the region, 4-4 in the district, and just shy of winning a region game for the first time in nearly 50 years. Congratulations on the strong finish to the season!
Butler 15 17 15 6 53
Meade 19 15 11 15 60
Wilson 25, Skaggs 11, Cardwell 8, Jones 4,
Belcher 3, Hunt 2
