Perhaps it was a case of overconfidence on the part of the Lady Cougars of Grayson County last Friday night against the Lady Cougars of McLean County in Calhoun. In any event, McLean played lights-out against Grayson and secured a 50-46 win to drop Grayson’s record to 3-2 for the season.
McLean came into the game with a woeful record of 1-7 that included a 31-point loss at home against Owensboro, a 38-point loss on the road at Ohio County, an 18-point loss at Hopkins County, and a 25-point loss at Hancock County.
Against Grayson County, McLean got a massive performance from sophomore post player Makena Rush who led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Junior guard Hannah Hampton just missed a double-double night herself with nine points and 10 boards. McLean County outrebounded the Lady Cougars 38-32.
The game was close from the start, but McLean County maintained a one-point advantage through the first three quarters of play. They led 9-8 after one, 20-19 at the half, and 32-31 at the start of the fourth quarter. There was one tie and four lead changes in that third quarter.
A 6-0 Grayson County run near the start of the final period gave the Lady Cougars their largest lead of the night, three points at 37-34, but McLean answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good, 42-37 with 3:07 left to play.
Grayson County closed to within two points of the lead three times in the closing moments of the game, the last time coming at 48-46 following an old-fashioned three-point play by Kenzie Renfrow with 16 seconds left, but they would get no closer.
Junior Bailey Snyder led the Lady Cougars with 14 points and she added six rebounds. Renfrow scored 10 points and grabbed six boards as well. Rachael Snyder scored eight points and grabbed five boards.
Kaylee Masden and Laura Vincent both scored five points, and Vincent added six rebounds before she fouled out with a little over a minute left to play. Jenna Nash and Ella Robinson completed the scoring with two points each.
In the JV contest, McLean opened the game with a 7-1 run, and Grayson County was never closer than four points the rest of the game. The Lady Cougars trailed by 13 points, 20-7 at the half.
Madison Edwards led the team with seven points, while Brianna Dennis had six. Eighth-grader Annie Kiper came off the bench to score four points. Ella Robinson scored two and Raigan Cave added one to complete the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
