It wasn’t supposed to be like this!
The Lady Cougar basketball team came into the opening round of the 12th District Tournament playing some of the best basketball they had played all season.
They would be facing a Whitesville Trinity team that had had its best season in decades, and on its home floor. The Lady Cougars had handled them fairly easily in their two matchups this season, so it was kind of expected that they would advance with few problems.
But as the old saying goes, “Man proposes and God disposes!”
The Lady Raiders put on the show of their lives and nearly pulled off the upset of the reigning 3rd Region champions. They led for probably 90 percent of the 32 minutes of action, and it was only by the grit of the Lady Cougars in the fourth quarter they were able to pull out the win.
The Lady Cougars were awful at the start of the game… there is really no other way to describe the first half. Unofficially they were 5-of-27 from the floor for an icy 18 percent shooting. When you add in eight first-half turnovers, it was a losing formula.
With that said, the Lady Cougars trailed by just two points at the half, 16-14.
Fortunately, the Lady Cougars played better in the second half. The score was tied five times in the third quarter before Hannah Saltsman went the length of the floor for a lay-up with 1:31 left in the period to put the Lady Cougars up 29-27, their first lead since 5-4 at the 2:07 mark of the first period.
They still led by two points, 31-29 heading into the final period of play.
In the fourth quarter, the score was tied three more times, the last coming at 38-38 with 3:59 left following a 10-foot jumper from Trinity’s Morgan Kinsey. Saltsman followed with a pair of buckets to give the Lady Cougars a lead they would not give back, 42-38 with 2:57 remaining.
The Lady Cougars stretched their lead to eight points, 46-38 with 11 seconds left before Whitesville’s terrific seventh-grade guard, Cassidy Morris buried a three-pointer with six seconds left for the final five-point margin of victory.
Morris led all scorers in the game with 18 points. The Lady Raiders also got 11 points from their senior guard, Nina Wathen, playing in her final game for Trinity.
Saltsman led the Lady Cougars with 16 points. Sophomore Laura Vincent chipped in eight points and she led the team on the glass with nine rebounds.
Two players, senior Mackenzie Edwards and sophomore Kenzie Renfrow had seven points apiece with Renfrow adding two rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Kaylee Masden had four points, Brandi Minton had three, and Ella Robinson added one to complete the Lady Cougar scoring.
The win puts the Lady Cougars (16-13) into Thursday’s championship game against their arch-enemy, Edmonson County. The LadyCats (27-4) had little trouble in their opening game as they hammered Butler County 56-24.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
Laura Vincent scored eight points for the
Lady Cougars and led them on the boards
with nine rebounds.
Senior Brandi Minton buried this
first-period three-pointer, one of just
two made shots for the Lady Cougars
in the first quarter.
Mackenzie Edwards put up a left-handed
shot in the lane.
