Breckinridge County ousts Lady Cougars from 3rd Region Tourney, 55-50

brandi-breck
brandi-breck

The up-and-down season of Grayson County’s Lady Cougar basketball team closed on a down note Monday evening in Owensboro’s Sports Center as the Breckinridge County Lady Tigers pulled away late for a 55-50 victory in the opening round of the 3rd Region Tournament.

The Lady Cougars hit nine three-point shots and put two players into double-figure scoring, but it wasn’t enough to offset big nights from two of the Breck players. Isabel Grimes led all scorers with 23 points, including three shots from behind the arc and 10-of-14 shooting from the foul line. Their big center, Kayla Young, scored 13 points for the Lady Tigers, but it was her rebounding and shot blocking inside that had Grayson County frustrated all evening.

Looking ahead toward next season and beyond, Grayson County will have to deal with both those players again. Young is a junior and will return for next season, while Grimes is just an eighth grader and will cause trouble for the Lady Cougars for the next four years.

Things began about as well as Lady Cougar head coach Josh Basham could hope for, with his team shooting well from the floor. Three-pointers from Kenzie Renfrow and Hannah Saltsman propelled the Lady Cougars to a quick 9-2 lead and forced the Lady Tigers to call an early timeout to talk things over.

But despite Grayson County hitting 57 percent from the field on 8-of-14 shooting in the first half, the Lady Tigers came back to take a two-point lead, 24-22 at the half.

The lead changed hands three times at the start of the third period, and when senior Brandi Minton buried a three at the 6:01 mark, Grayson County had a four-point lead, 30-26.

That’s when the tide began to turn in Breck’s direction. The Lady Tigers went on an 11-2 run and took a five-point lead, 37-32 with 46 seconds left in the period and they never looked back.

Breck led by five, 39-34 heading into the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Lady Tiger Natalee Tabor capped a modest 6-2 run that gave her team a nine point lead, 45-36 with 4:04 left to play. Two Grimes free throws with 30 seconds remaining saw the Lady Tigers holding their largest lead of the night, 11 points at 55-44.

Senior Mackenzie Edwards closed out the game with back-to-back threes to make the final score a little more respectable, but it was just too little, too late for the Lady Cougars.

Saltsman led the Lady Cougars in scoring with 19 points, while Edwards finished with 11. Kenzie Renfrow, who is just a sophomore and will have to battle Grimes one-on-one for the next three years, scored nine.

Minton, the third senior on the team, hit a pair of threes for her six points, while sophomore Bailey Snyder’s three points also came on a three-ball. Sophomore Laura Vincent, who has not even touched her potential as a basketball player, rounded out the scoring with two points and she led the team on the glass with five rebounds.

The Lady Cougars close out the season with a record of 16-15, while Breck improved to 17-11. The Lady Tigers will face Owensboro Catholic (24-7) in Friday’s semifinal.

By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com

 

 

 

 

Breck’s Kayla Young was a thorn in the
Lady Cougars’ side all night with multiple
blocked shots and double-digit rebounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Mackenzie Edwards finished her night with 11 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kenzie Renfrow hit a pair of threes
and finished with nine points.