Jim Mashek

Over the first two quarters, nothing went right for the Warren East High School girls basketball team.

The Lady Raiders turned it over nine times, against Todd County Central in the quarterfinals of the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena. They couldn’t stop Todd County Central star Alexis Taylor, a dominant post presence who had 16 points at halftime. They’d been on the wrong side of a 23-13 rebounding bulge.

The scoreboard read, TCC 43, Warren East 20 at the break.

But then, something snapped. The Lady Raiders played with verve, with purpose. They even trailed by as many as 25 points, but they started attacking the TCC defense. They hit six of eight shots in the third quarter, including a 3-for-6 showing from 3-point range. And they definitely started hitting the boards.

It helped that Taylor was on the bench with four fouls, for much of the second half, but the Lady Raiders trimmed the deficit to five points three times in the fourth quarter. Warren East, a district champion for the first time in 17 years, just couldn’t get the stop it needed.

Todd County Central 70, Warren East 64.

The Lady Raiders’ Sam Carver hit a 3-pointer in the game’s final moments, indicative of the fight her team put up in the 4th Region quarterfinals. But it was the Lady Rebels who would be moving on.

Todd County Central will tangle with Metcalfe County, a 52-40 winner over South Warren, in the second 4th Region semifinal on Thursday night. The Hornets turned in a masterful defensive performance and held off South’s comeback bid.

The 4th Region Tournament moves to the boys quarterfinals on Tuesday night, with Barren County (20-12) facing Cumberland County (17-13) before ninth-ranked Bowling Green (27-5) taking the floor against Russellville (6-26) in the nightcap. Russellville squeezed into the region field with an upset of No. 1-seeded Franklin-Simpson in the 13th District Tournament semifinals.

TODD COUNTY CENTRAL 70, WARREN EAST 64

The Lady Raiders were on the cusp of an amazing comeback, but Alexis Taylor and Todd County Central withstood the challenge. The Lady Rebels’ Abby Williams also hit nine of 10 free throws, going 6-for-11 from the field, to lead all scorers with 24 points.

“I knew I was going to have to step up,” Williams said, “but everyone knew, we were going to finish this game.”

Todd County Central coach Nick Suttle knew what Williams would do at the free-throw line.

“When she’s at the line, I’m excited about it,” he said. “I trusted her.”

Warren East coach Jenny Neville saw her team’s resolve shine through in the second half.

“We dug ourselves a pretty good hole in the first half,” Neville said. “That was something we haven’t had to face all year long,” Warren East coach Jenny Neville said. “We were either up going into the half or in an even ballgame. I can only think of one game (otherwise) and that was Franklin-Simpson that we haven’t been.

“I’m just proud of the way these ladies reacted in the second half. They could have laid down and we didn’t. We gave them a game.”

Warren East finished its breakthrough season with a 26-5 record.

Senior forward Rae Jones and senior center Rileigh Jones led South Warren with 13 points each, while junior guard Sam Carver finished with 12 points while junior guard Lydia Jones added 10. Rileigh Jones get the roll on a basket that trimmed the Lady Raiders’ deficit to 61-56, but TCC inbounded the ball to Alexis Taylor under the Warren East basket for a field goal that pushed the lead back to seven points.

Warren East shot 53 percent in the second half, while going 4-for-10 from 3-point range.

“This loss doesn’t define us as a team,” Warren East’s Rileigh Jones said. “I think our season does, how good we did and the history we made.”

It was Todd County Central’s first victory in the 4th Region Tournament since 2012. The Lady Rebels improved to 18-12 overall.

“You can tell it means a lot … we focused on every detail,” Todd County Central coach Nick Suttle said.

Jenny Neville certainly has Warren East trending in the right direction.

“We had expectations,” Neville said. “I told the girls that it does sting, but at the end of the day, you made history. You left a legacy. You brought Lady Raider basketball back, back to where it should be.”

METCALFE COUNTY 52, SOUTH WARREN 40

Metcalfe County coach Heidi Coleman said the big goal, with her team, was to win the KHSAA 16th District championship. The Lady Hornets arrived in Bowling Green with a bounce in their step and bounced the Spartans with some tough defense.

Coleman used 6-foot-senior guard Anna Grace Bylthe to neutralize South Warren softball/basketball star McLaine Hudson, who’s just a sophomore. Hudson didn’t get on the scoreboard until the opening moments of the fourth quarter and finished the game with four points, a team-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Eighth grader Jooniper Strow led South Warren with 10 points.

“McLaine is just an amazing athlete,” Coleman said. “At all times, Anna Grace had to stay man-to-man with her. Sometimes, it was in a box-and-one and sometimes it was in a triangle-and-two, but she also played her man-to-man, every possession.”

South Warren coach Lane Embry said Metcalfe’s defensive strategy was critical to the outcome.

“They had a good defensive game plan,” Embry said. “I knew it was going to be a battle, early on … Our girls battled back. We just didn’t make enough plays, offensively, in the first half.”

Metcalfe County led 26-14 at the break.

Metcalfe County improved to 20-12 on the season, and the Lady Hornets showed offensive discipline in leading nearly the entire game. Kassidy London played the entire 32 minutes and led Metcalfe with 17 points, while teammate Jozie Allen finished with 16. Aubrey Glass had nine points for the Lady Hornets, while Anna Grace Blythe finished with seven.

The Lady Hornets shot 47.5 percent from the field for the game.

Metcalfe County will face Todd County Central with a shot at its first 4th Region Tournament championship game appearance since 1992, when Heidi Coleman was a player for the Lady Hornets.

“We lost by one point to Warren East (in 1992), so it’s been a minute since we’ve been there,” Coleman said. “Watching Todd County, that was an incredible upset (of Warren East). We’re going to have to focus on our game plan, not the end goal for this one.”