Jim Mashek

LADY PURPLES’ CHLOE POTTER: ‘WHEN YOUR TEAM’s LOSING, YOU FEEL A LOT OF PRESSURE’

LEXINGTON — It started as a surge, and quickly morphed into a run. Then, before the Bowling Green High School girls basketball team had a chance to really get its bearings, the Lady Purples found themselves down by 15 points.

Playing in the first game of the KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament, Bowling Green and Owsley County took the floor before a sparse Rupp Arena crowd. Spectators on hand noticed, however, that Owsley County seemed intent on making its first trip to the Sweet 16 a memorable one.

Sixth-year BGHS coach Calvin Head refused to panic. He kept his timeouts for the second half. And slowly, but surely, the Lady Purples got back in the game. And when they finally grabbed their first lead, on Katy Smiley’s inside basket in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, they certainly knew what to do with it.

“That’s how our season’s gone this year,” Head said. “We’ve been fighting uphill.”

The Lady Purples are enjoying the view right now. Bowling Green never relinquished the lead after Smiley’s field goal put them in front with 7:01 left in the game. The Purples survived some anxious moments down the stretch but held on to eliminate Owsley County, 46-44, in first-round play of the Sweet 16 on Wednesday afternoon.

Bowling Green won its seventh straight game, improving to 24-10 on the season. Chloe Potter, one of Head’s seniors, and Smiley never left the floor, playing the entire 32 minutes with the Lady Purples’ season on the line.

And Potter didn’t mince any words when it was over.

“As a senior, obviously, when your team’s losing you feel a lot of pressure,” Potter said. “You don’t want to go home first round. I mean, it’s either win or go home, so making big plays is what we had to do to get the momentum back for our team.”

Potter certainly made her share of them. She hit a critical 3-point field goal when the Lady Purples were scrambling back into contention in the second quarter. She hit five of seven free throws. And she often drew the defensive assignment against Owsley’s Aaliyah Lynch, whose early 3-point shooting helped put Bowling Green in that imposing 15-point deficit.

“In that second quarter, we found some defensive rhythm,” Head said.

And now the Lady Purples have found their way to the quarterfinals, and they’ll play last year’s Sweet 16 runner-up — McCracken County — in the first of four quarterfinals on Friday morning. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT.

Bowling Green got to the Sweet 16 with an impressive performance in the semifinals of the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament, a 52-39 victory over eighth-ranked Franklin-Simpson, and a 49-35 thumping of Todd County Central in the championship game. The Lady Purples have qualified for five straight Sweet 16 Tournaments, although they didn’t get to play in 2020 because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katy Smiley helped power the Lady Purples into the quarterfinals with a typically sturdy performance. She scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and she had three of the Lady Purples’ six blocked shots, along with three assists. Smiley, a 5-foot-11 junior, is a steadying influence on the floor.

“Chloe (Potter) hit some big shots tonight,” Smiley said. “Even when the shots aren’t falling, I have confidence in my team that we’ll get it done.”

Calvin Head has created a winning culture within the BGHS program, and you can see it in how they respond to pressure situations.

Because there were plenty of them on Wednesday against Owsley County.

“Once we started guarding,” Head said, “I think we were able to rebound (from the slow start) and push the tempo the way we wanted it. I thought they settled down and kind of become more of themselves.”

Now the Lady Purples turn their attention to McCracken County, which drubbed Russell High School, 50-33, in first-round play on Wednesday. Bowling Green has already played McCracken County (29-5) twice this season, losing to the Lady Mustangs at a Christmas tournament in Bullitt County, 46-30, before playing host to McCracken on February 17 at the BGHS Arena.

Bowling Green won that game, 53-50, and the Lady Purples have won seven straight and nine of their last 10 contests.

BGHS coach Calvin Head said his team will practice on Thursday and catch some tournament action at Rupp Arena as well. Head is particularly impressed with McCracken County’s senior point guard, Claire Johnson. Johnson averages 22 points per game and has signed with Samford University for the 2024-25 school year.

“Defensively, McCracken is really good,” Head said. “We’re up for the challenge.”