Jim Mashek

Bowling Green High School’s girls basketball team has negotiated some serious obstacles to get within two victories of a return to the KHSAA’s Sweet 16 state tournament next week in Lexington.

The Lady Purples have won four consecutive 4th Region championships at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena, and they squeezed past Russell County High School, 44-40, in the second game on Sunday evening to earn their 20th victory of the season against 10 defeats.

And they’ll be the underdog when Bowling Green squares off with No. 1-area ranked Franklin-Simpson on Thursday night at Diddle, as the Lady Cats rolled past their 4th Region quarterfinal opponent, Allen County-Scottsville, in the first game on Sunday. Franklin-Simpson won that game, 60-31, before the Lady Purples took care of business against Russell County.

Bowling Green lost senior guard Josiyah Franklin to a knee injury in last week’s 37-24 victory over South Warren in the KHSAA 14th District championship game. Franklin was on the BGHS bench Sunday, wearing a full-length support sleeve on her left leg, and Russell County stayed within striking distance of the Lady Purples for most of the second half on Sunday.

Ultimately, though, Bowling Green hit enough free throws in the fourth quarter, after junior guard NaTaya Wardlow drilled 3-pointers on successive possessions in the early moments of the quarter. Those baskets pushed the Bowling Green lead to 38-25 with 5:15 left in the game, and that was too much for the Lakers to overcome.

Sixth-year BGHS coach Calvin Head, appearing at the postgame press conference with senior guards Chloe Potter and Ryleigh Campbell, pointed out that Potter and Campbell were in sixth grade when he arrived at Bowling Green.

“I’ve got them, they’ve got me,” Head said with a smile. “We know, for us to be successful, we have to guard (opponents). That game was a dogfight, as we expected.”

Campbell hit some critical 3-point field goals in the first half, and Katy Smiley, the Lady Purples’ scoring leader, was most effective at the defensive end of the floor. Campbell and BGHS teammate NaTaijia Alexander each finished the game with 12 points, while the 5-foot-1 Wardlow added nine points and four assists.

Smiley played 31 minutes and had seven points, along with seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.

Russell County coach Brett Blankenship admitted the Lakers’ defensive game plan was to focus on Campbell and Smiley at the 3-point line, more or less daring Wardlow to shoot the back-to-back 3s that extended the Lady Purples’ lead to 13 points in the early moments of the fourth quarter.

“They just hit some big shots when they needed them,” Blankenship said. “(Defensively), they got up in us, ‘manned’ us a little bit. We gave them some early easy baskets.

“We told the girls, ‘We’re not going to be happy, just being here.’ Bowling Green played well.”

Sophomore guard Aniyah Coffey led Russell Springs with 16 points.

BGHS coach Calvin Head will have a few days to prepare for his team’s high-profile matchup with Franklin-Simpson (30-1). The Lady Cats defeated Bowling Green, 51-33, on January 9 at the BGHS Arena.

“We understand the challenge ahead,” Head said. “We’re going to be prepared, and the pressure’s going to be on me.”

FRANKLIN-SIMPSON 60, ALLEN COUNTY-SCOTTSVILLE 31

Franklin-Simpson, ranked ninth statewide by MaxPreps, opened a 16-3 lead after the first quarter and never looked back against the Lady Patriots.

Allen County-Scottsville had no answer for the Lady Cats’ LaReesha Cawthorn, who did it all in just 19 minutes on the floor.

Cawthorn hit seven of nine shots, and all seven of her free throws, while scoring a game-high 21 points, adding six rebounds before watching from the bench in the fourth quarter. Franklin-Simpson (30-1) has won 14 consecutive games, and the Lady Cats are a strong favorite heading into Thursday’s game against Bowling Green.

“I’m proud of how we played,” Franklin-Simpson coach Ashley Taylor said. “You know, the first one is always the hardest one. You’re only in this gym for the region here. And the first team to settle in I think gets off to the better start. I thought our leadership, LaReesha, she got us going. She kind of settled us in, made a few early buckets and then we just let the game flow from there.”

Franklin-Simpson built a 40-10 lead for halftime and Taylor could empty her bench during a second half that sometimes featured a running clock.

Franklin-Simpson’s Jasmine Savage and Vanessa Roy each finished with nine points.

“I trusted in myself, never stopped shooting,” Savage said.

Allen County-Scottsville coach Greg Dunn said the Lady Cats can rely on their defense to be successful. The Lady Patriots finished their season with a 12-18 record.

“They’re long and athletic,” Dunn said. “It’s hard to get in there and get decent shots … We haven’t played in this tournament since 2015; we got the the region tournament by beating a very good Barren County team … In 2015, these (AC-S seniors) were in third grade.”

Avery Morris and Jayleigh Steenbergen had eight points each for Allen County-Scottsville.