Jim Mashek

KHSAA 4th REGION QUARTERFINALS HAD PLENTY OF DRAMA; LADY PURPLES LOOK FOR PATH TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON TUESDAY NIGHT

Tears were shed, games were won and lost, and in the end, Metcalfe County High School’s girls basketball team survived in the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament quarterfinals on Monday night at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.

A lane violation against Warren East wiped out what WOULD HAVE been the game’s tying free throw, with 0.5 seconds left, in the Lady Raiders’ gut-wrenching defeat, a loss to KHSAA 16th District champion Metcalfe County.

The Lady Hornets prevailed, 45-44, in turning back Warren East’s late challenge, earning their 26th victory against five defeats in the nightcap of Monday’s doubleheader at Diddle. Warren East’s Lydia Jones turned in an amazing effort in the Lady Raiders’ loss, but it’s one that will sting for a long, long time, as Lady Raiders coach Jenny Neville acknowledged when it was over.

“It’s a tough lesson to learn,” Neville said.

Metcalfe County’s Jozie Allen, a sophomore forward playing with a torn left ACL, fought through the pain while leading the Lady Hornets with a game-high 12 points and 14 rebounds. Three Metcalfe County players — Aubrey Glass, Lily Blythe and Kassady London — never left the floor, playing the entire 32 minutes before the critical lane-violation call ended the Lady Raiders’ hopes of playing Bowling Green High School in Tuesday night’s second semifinal game.

BGHS, shooting for its sixth straight 4th Region championship, labored throughout its 37-35 victory over senior forward Alex Taylor and Todd County Central, the KHSAA 13th District runner-up, in Monday’s opening game. Down the stretch, however, Bowling Green’s defense was equal to the task. The Lady Purples limited Todd County Central to 21 percent shooting to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals.

The Lady Rebels finished their season at 15-14.

It was a tight one, to be sure, but Warren East would bring its fans to their feet in a valiant effort against a skilled, experienced Metcalfe County squad.

Warren East’s Lydia Jones was fouled with 0.5 seconds showing on the E.A. Diddle clock, and she was true on both free throws, apparently tying the game before an official behind the 3-point line called the lane violation that dashed the Lady Raiders’ hopes.

“I have no comment, except to tell you that was the wrong call,” Warren East coach Jenny Neville said at the podium with her Lady Raiders senior class, five strong.

Neville and Metcalfe County coach Heidi Coleman embraced in the hallway between press conferences, and Coleman seemed to agree that it was unfortunate way to settle a high-stakes girls basketball game.

“I am so, so sorry that this is how the game ended,” Coleman said, “but at the same time I am so grateful that call went our way … Hats off to (Warren East). I know they have five seniors, and that’s such a heartbreak to lose that way, but they did everything they could to win …

“It just fell our way tonight.”

The Lady Raiders finished their season with a 20-8 record, marking back-to-back seasons of 20 wins or more for Warren East for the first time in more than 25 years.

“It’s a special group,” Neville said.

The tournament semifinals will begin at 6:30 p.m., with seventh-ranked Franklin-Simpson (26-2, 17-0 vs. the 4th Region) tangling with tradition-rich Barren County (26-5). Veteran coach Piper Lindsey’s Trojanettes are looking for their first KHSAA Sweet 16 berth since 2019.

The Sweet 16 unfolds later this month at UK’s Rupp Arena in Lexington.

BOWLING GREEN 37, TODD COUNTY CENTRAL 35

Bowling Green led for the vast majority of the game, but in a low-scoring game, a lot of things can change quickly.

A lot of things did Monday night.

Todd County Central had a lot of fouls to give — namely, four of them — in the final minute or so, trailing the Lady Purples 36-32 until Daymea Garrett’s 3-point field goal pulled the Rebels to within a single point.

Then, Todd County Central had to chase the Lady Purples’ ballhandlers around the perimeter before finally putting Bowling Green sophomore Emma Macy at the free-throw line with 2.9 seconds left in the game. Macy missed the first throw, but she drained the second, meaning the Lady Purples could set their defense for some late-game heroics.

Alexis Taylor, Todd County Central’s senior forward on her way to Midway University, got off a shot from about 55 feet from the basket, but it had no chance and the horn sounded.

“The girls wanted this bad,” Todd County Central coach Nick Suttle said. “They put in the work, in the offseason, for these big moments … They’ve got the heart of lions.”

BGHS coach Calvin Head had an unusual reassembling project after the Lady Purples’ 24-11 season, which included an appearance in the KHSAA Sweet 16 quarterfinal round. Bowling Green defeated Todd County Central 49-35 on that night, at Diddle, but this was a much different Lady Purples squad.

Senior point guard NaTaya Wardlow, a small but active defensive dynamo, was sidelined in the first week or two with a torn ACL. Katy Smiley, who’s headed for Campbellsville University on a basketball scholarship, had to move to point guard to give the Lady Purples an experienced hand at that position.

“There were five girls on their roster who played in that regional championship game last year,” Head said. “Katy was our only one.”

Sophomore guard Maddie Davenport led the Lady Purples with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Smiley added eight points. TCC’s Alexis Taylor led all scorers with 17 points. The Lady Rebels’ JaMya Kay finished the game with eight points and nine rebounds.

“I thought we weathered the storm,” Head said.

TCC coach Nick Suttle said the Lady Purples’ execution in the half-court offense was a critical factor in the outcome.

“They did a good job of rotating their girls on the back side, and got some open looks,” Suttle said.

Bowling Green improved to 13-16 overall, but that’s a deceiving record in that Head put a challenging non-district schedule together last summer. The Lady Purples went 12-3 against 4th Region competition this season, including a 7-0 mark against the 14th District.

BGHS coach Calvin Head said sophomore guard Maddie Davenport “can attest to the work she’s put in,” but he also pointed out that the Lady Purples have what he calls a “Bus Squad,” for role players such as junior center Aniyah Smith, Neiriah Woods and Kori Ware.

“We’ve got six kids that we call the ‘bus monitors,'” Head said. “They have a job out there … We want all of our kids on the energy bus, and we’ve got some bus monitors that do the dirty work for us.”

METCALFE COUNTY 45, WARREN EAST 44

Warren East used defensive pressure to get back in the game in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Raiders nearly pulled it off.

Warren East’s fraternal twins in the backcourt, Madison Lawson and Kennedy Lawson, scored on back-to-back baskets the put the Lady Raiders in front, 37-36, with 3:23 left in the game. Metcalfe County stormed back in front, 43-39, on a 7-0 run, but Breelynn Wardlow’s inside basket pulled to the Lady Raiders to within two points.

An alert steal in the backcourt, and subsequent layup, from the Lady Raiders’ Sam Carver tied the game at 43 in the final minute. Metcalfe County took its time with the ball before Aubrey Glass scored on a drive down the right baseline with 21 seconds left.

Warren East’s Lydia Jones came up with a steal, under the Lady Hornets’ basket, and was fouled trying to tie the game up in the final seconds. Jones was on target on both of her free throws, but the second one, of course, was waved off for the lane violation that left the Lady Raiders with tears in their eyes.

Warren East coach Jenny Neville called a timeout to get an explanation on the call, but she seemed non-plussed with what she heard from the officials.

“I believe he said Sam (Carver) crossed the 3-point black line, which is not our line,” Neville said. “Our line is the white line … I can imagine these kids will be dealing with this for a long time.”

Metcalfe’s Jozie Allen, playing with a torn left ACL, led her team with 12 points and 14 rebounds in roughly 25 minutes on the floor. She was helped off the court by two teammates, in the early going, and Metcalfe coach Heidi Coleman said she wasn’t sure how Allen’s knee would react on playing back-to-back nights.

Senior forward Kassady London, Metcalfe’s leading scorer, finished the game with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. After a brutal third quarter — 2-for-11 shooting, or 18 percent — the Lady Hornets came back to shoot 4-of-9 from the field in the last eight minutes.

Lydia Jones, playing in her final Warren East game, turned in a spectacular performance.

Jones finished the game with 10 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four steals, seldom leaving the court. Warren East teammate Kennedy Lawson played the entire 32 minutes and had nine points, two rebounds and two steals. The Lady Raiders’ Brelynn Wardlow hit a 3-pointer from the right corner as the first half came to a close, finishing with seven points.

Warren East coach Jenny Neville was joined by her five seniors — the Lawson twins, Jones, Carver and Cayoni Collins — at the emotional postgame press conference.

“These ladies did everything in their power to win a ballgame,” Neville said, “and I honestly feel like we should still be playing (in overtime).”