The Lady Cougars’ basketball season came to an abrupt end Monday night in the opening round of the 12th District Tournament as the Whitesville Trinity Lady Raiders handed them a 55-39 loss.
It was the eighth loss in the Lady Cougars’ last nine games and it will keep them out of the 3rd Region Tournament for the first time since 1999.
The Lady Raiders scored the game’s first five points to lead 5-0 at the 6:18 mark, but the Lady Cougars responded with eight unanswered points to lead 8-5 at the 3:53 mark. The Lady Raiders then put their stamp on the game by going on a 17-2 run to give them a 22-10 lead with 1:39 left in the first half. Trinity led by 11 points, 25-14 at the half.
Trinity held a 14-point lead, 34-20 at the 4:46 mark of the third period when the Lady Cougars got hot. They went on a 10-2 run 10 to pull to within six points of the lead, 36-30 with 41 seconds left in the period. They still trailed by six points, 38-32 heading into the final period of play.
When Rachael Snyder opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play, the Lady Cougars were within three points of the lead, and it appeared order had been restored, but they would never be closer.
Snyder hit 1-of-2 at the line with 3:22 remaining to be played that pulled the Lady Cougars to within five, 44-39, but they would not score again. The Lady Raiders closed out the scoring by hitting 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch. For the game, the Lady Raiders were 24-of-27 at the charity stripe. Grayson County finished 9-of-16.
Freshman Cassidy Morris led all scorers for Trinity with 23 points, while senior Nina Wathen finished with 14.
Laura Vincent led the Lady Cougars with 12 points and just missed a double-double night by pulling down nine rebounds. The Snyder sisters, Rachael and Bailey, contributed 10 points apiece.
Jenna Nash scored four points while Kenzie Renfrow, the team’s leading scorer during the regular season, finished with just three points. Renfrow added six rebounds, five assists and three steals to her totals. The Lady Cougars finished the season with a record of 11-16.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
