Jim Mashek

LADY ACES DRILL ONE 3-POINTER AFTER ANOTHER FOR UPSET VICTORY

LEXINGTON — The Bowling Green High School girls basketball team overcame plenty of obstacles to get back to the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen, but the Lady Purples ran out of mojo in first-round play against a disciplined, deliberate Owensboro Catholic squad.

Bowling Green lost starting guard/forward Tanaya Bailey to a hip injury midway through the fourth quarter, and the Lady Aces used 53 percent shooting from 3-point range to eliminate the Lady Purples, 54-51, on Wednesday afternoon at Rupp Arena.

Bowling Green made history by dismantling Barren County High School, 59-37, in the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament title game on Sunday afternoon. It was a quick turnaround — the tourney was pushed back one day because of severe weather and significant wind damage in South Central Kentucky on Friday — for sixth-year BGHS head coach Calvin Head and his staff.

The Lady Purples left for Lexington on Tuesday morning, and they were barely in town 24 hours before having to return to the team hotel and a quick departure for Bowling Green.

Still, it was a significant postseason run for the Lady Purples, who finished the season 24-11.

Bowling Green lost junior guard Ryleigh Campbell to a torn ACL during a practice at the BGHS Arena about one month ago, and that was after 4th Region Player of the Year Meadow Tisdale was sidelined with a knee injury sustained February 3 in a lopsided victory over Warren Central.

“This has been the weirdest season, I swear,” Head said in the postgame press conference. “Ryleigh’s waited her whole career for a chance to play in the Sweet Sixteen, and get to Rupp Arena. I just can’t put it into words … we played six teams in the (Sweet Sixteen) field, and two of them TWICE …

“These kids kept putting their team first. They kept showing up. They kept showing up, they kept working hard. These three seniors — Tanaya, Sinayiah (Shelton), Meadow (Tisdale) — are really going to be missed. They play with an unselfishness that you can’t coach, that you can’t teach.”

There were 10 lead changes and three ties, but the Lady Purples had to fight through a slow start.

Owensboro Catholic, which improved to 25-9 with the dramatic victory, used a variety of zone defenses to bottle up the 6-foot Meadow Tisdale — the KHSAA 4th Region Player of the Year — in the first half.

Tisdale, who has signed with Northern Kentucky University, also missed the bulk of the first half after picking up her second personal foul with 5:50 left in the second quarter.

Owensboro Catholic led 11-6 after the first quarter, but the Lady Purples found an offensive rhythm before halftime, taking a slim 19-18 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Lady Aces and Bowling Green went through a back-and-forth third quarter — Owensboro Catholic had the biggest lead, 35-30, in the final 90 seconds of the period — before Catholic began to pull away over the final eight minutes.

Still, it was anybody’s game.

BGHS point guard Saniyah Shelton, who’s headed to play college basketball at nearby Eastern Kentucky University, came up with a steal in the backcourt and took the ball the length of the court to trim the Lady Aces’ lead to 42-41 with 4:45 left in the game.

The Lady Aces responded with some deadly outside shooting, which gave them the upper hand for most of the afternoon.

Hailee Johnson’s mid-range jumper pushed the OCHS lead to 44-41, and BGHS senior center Meadow Tisdale responded with a strong inside move to make it 44-43.

Owensboro Catholic’s Karmin Riley, who led the Lady Aces with 16 points, drilled a transition 3-pointer to extend the OCHS lead to 47-43 at the three-minute mark.

Still, the Lady Purples kept coming back.

BGHS sophomore forward Katy Smiley — who moved into the starting lineup after Ryleigh Campbell’s torn ACL about a month ago — almost kept the Lady Purples in contention by herself.

Smiley drilled a 3 from the left wing, pulling Bowling Green to within 47-46. But the Lady Aces always seemed to have the equalizer, and backup OCHS guard Lauren Keelin connected on a wide-open 3 that brought BGHS coach Calvin Head off the bench in frustration.

All told, the Lady Aces hit 9 of 17 shots from 3-point range — that’s a staggering 53 percent — while hanging on for the grueling victory.

“We kind of dug in deep, and really played hard,” Owensboro Catholic coach Michael Robertson said. “We hit eight of nine 3-pointers in the second half, and that’s probably the difference today.”

Several of the Lady Purples had tears in their eyes after closing the book on another sensational season, which saw Bowling Green win an unprecedented fourth consecutive KHSAA 4th Region championship with the aforementioned victory over Piper Lindsey’s tradition-rich Barren County squad on Sunday at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.

Perhaps BGHS senior guard/forward Tanaya Bailey put it best.

Bailey took a hard fall after getting caught in an Owensboro Catholic double-team, and she was on the floor for a couple minutes before being helped off the floor with a hip injury. Bailey, the elder sister of BGHS football/basketball star Deuce Bailey — the starting quarterback on the Purples’ Class 5A state runner-up football team — has received interest from smaller schools, junior colleges and the like, instead plans to begin the pursuit of a nursing degree.

Tanaya Bailey, Saniyah Shelton and Meadow Tisdale were all members of the BGHS 1,000-point career scoring club. The Lady Purples reached the quarterfinals of the last two KHSAA Sweet Sixteens, losing to eventual state champion Sacred Heart in 2021.

“I just hope we leave a leave a legacy of competing and embracing the grind,” Bailey said.

Shelton, the Lady Purples’ sinewy, personable point guard, was quick to concur.

“I’m blessed I’m here. I got into a pretty bad car accident after our semifinal game (in Bowling Green) on Saturday night. I’m proud of this this team, these two (teammates) here. I’m thankful for everything.”

BGHS junior forward Katy Smiley led the Lady Purples with 20 points. She hit 6 of 13 shots from 3-point range while adding three rebounds. Tisdale was able to avoid further foul trouble in the second half and finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and one blocked shot.

Shelton, the future EKU Lady Colonel, played the entire 32 minutes and had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Shelton also had eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals.

It was an emotional moment for BGHS coach Calvin Head and his team after a rollercoaster month of basketball.

“When you get attached to kids,” Head said, “and see what they endure, what they fight to get through, it’s very tough … it’s a very special group of kids.”

The No. 1-ranked Warren Central boys squad returns to the Sweet Sixteen next week. The Dragons were last year’s runner-up, dropping a 43-42 decision to George Rogers Clark High School in the championship game. The Dragons, a 52-50 overtime winner over crosstown rival Bowling Green on Tuesday night, will tangle with Pulaski County in first-round play next Wednesday.

Owensboro Catholic’s girls will square off with No. 1-ranked Sacred Heart Academy, a 68-33 winner over Lawrence County High School, in the first quarterfinal game on Friday.

I’ll have a complete story on the Lady Purples’ return to the Sweet Sixteen after I get some rest at the hotel. Thanks so much to Calvin Head and his coaching staff for their access and cooperation in covering the team.

And thank you for reading.