Thursday, March 14, 2013

Thursday at the Girls Sweet Sixteen

The first round of the Houchens Industries/KHSAA Girls Sweet Sixteen is back underway at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green. Becca Greenwell and the Owensboro Catholic Lady Aces have raced out to a 24-11 lead midway through the the second quarter against the Lincoln County Lady Patriots of Stanford. 

The rest of today's games:

-- defending state champ Louisville Alfred Victor duPont Manual Lady Crimsons vs. The Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Jaguars of Louisville at 1:30 p.m. Central

-- Marshall County Lady Marshals of Draffenville vs. Letcher County Central Lady Cougars of Whitesburg at 6:30 p.m.

-- Richmond Madison Central Lady Indians vs. Park Hills Notre Dame Pandas at 8 p.m.

Comments flow!

66 comments:

  1. It's down to a 28-20 Owensboro Catholic advantage with less than two minutes to go, and the WPBK team is getting excited about their "Lady Pates."

    "We're going to get in some shoutouts in the first break at halftime," assures the announcer back to the homefolk in and around Stanford and Crab Orchard.

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  2. The Lady Pates are back within 33-26 at the break, and Lincoln County leading scorer Tiandra Hocker just did a station ID for WPBK!

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  3. I love it when the 6th and 7th regions draw each other in the first round.

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  4. Two and a half to play, and the OweCath lead is 10--but Becca Greenwell, the Duke signee, just picked up her fourth foul.

    Lincoln County is 27-5 and ranked 14th in the most recent Litkenhous; OweCath is 24-7 and 20th.

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  5. But Greenwell fouls out Lincoln County's point guard, and the lead is now 12 ...

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  6. And OweCath withstands ... 66-55 ... pretty sure Greenwell never left the game after picking up her fourth foul.

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  7. Sounds like she'll be perfect for Duke.

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    1. OweCath attempted 40 free throws (and made 31); Lincoln County attempted six and made four.

      "That's some discrepancy," the WPBK guys said after the game. But they went on to explain that they didn't feel "the calls all went their way." Rather, they said, Greenwell was able to over and over again dribble through Lincoln County's defense and that Lincoln County had made the determination before the game that they were going to foul instead of giving up uncontested layups. Greenwell made 14 of her 17 free-throw tries.

      WPBK tonight at 7 Eastern is rebroadcasting its telecast of the May 4 12th Region girls' basketball final which Lincoln County won, 56-54, in overtime against Casey County. Per Mike Marsee of Danville's Advocate-Messenger, it was the third time in five years that these two teams played for the trip to Bowling Green--and the third-straight time that Casey County lost. The Lady Pates led this year's regional championship by as much as 35-22 in the second half, but Casey County actually seized the lead in regulation's final minute.

      After re-tying the score at 44, "Lincoln held for a final shot, but the ball was deflected out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left," Marsee wrote. "Casey’s Tiara Cochran then stole the inbounds pass and passed ahead to Terry, who drove to the basket for a layup that officials ruled came after the clock ran out, a call that appeared to be correct."

      Lincoln County prevailed in overtime for its second-straight 12th Region title.

      And then Marsee wrote, ...

      As the regionals conclude, we say a prayer for and send good wishes to Randy Elmore, the Pulaski County athletic director (and former Casey softball coach and assistant football coach) who is continuing a long, courageous fight he has waged since being diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. Elmore recently finished another round of treatment and was unable to be at the girls regional, and he was missed, although Pulaski girls coach Brian Miller and other school staffers carried on without missing a beat. Elmore will be honored at “Elmore Touch Day” on March 23 with a day-long program that includes a 5-kilometer run/walk, chili dinner, trail ride and bonfire. Proceeds from the race will go to the Elmore family. For more information, visittheelmoretouch5k.com.

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  8. 19-18, the defending champs lead Mercy with 5:05 to go in the second quarter of today's second game. Manual is 23-8 and ranked sixth in the Litkenhous; Mercy is 20-10 and ranked third.

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  9. Mercy buried a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to pull back to within 55-44, after Manual had surged to lead by as much as 18 points with 2:04 to go in the quarter.

    Kayla Styles, a senior Manual guard, is headed toward a triple-double. She has 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. With 6:17 to go, the Lady Crimsons lead by 12, and two Mercy starters have fouled out.

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    1. Steve Jones ‏@SteveJones_CJ
      Whitney Hartlage fouls out for Mercy on a charge. Sixth Region player of the Year and top 3-pt shooter. #Gsweet16
      3:46 p.m. - Mar 14, 2013

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  10. Becca Greenwell ‏@bgreenwell23
    Our student section today was unbelievable!!! Bring it again tomorrow night! #WeAreOC 👏👍
    3:37 p.m. - Mar 14, 2013

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  11. With 1:48 to go, Manual is up by 14. Mercy won at Manual by eight back on Jan. 15.

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  12. Steve Jones ‏@SteveJones_CJ
    If Manual holds on, it will be a very high-level matchup of Becca Greenwell vs. Kayla Styles. One of few players who matches up w/ BG
    4:03 p.m. - Mar 14, 2013

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  13. The defending champs were 12-8 at one point this season, including a 16-point loss to Marion County on Jan. 12 and 36(!)-point loss to Anderson County on Dec. 27. But with this victory over Mercy, the Lady Crimsons--who have played in each of the last three state-championship games--will have won 12 straight, including wins in the Seventh Region tournament over teams that the Litkenhous ranks 10th (Assumption) and 15th (Sacred Heart) in the state.

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  14. Louisville Catholic ‏@LouCathSports
    Mercy falls to Manual in the first round of the Sweet 16 74-60. The Jaguars should be proud of themselves no matter how hard this loss is.
    4:14 p.m. - Mar 14, 2013

    Louisville Catholic ‏@LouCathSports
    Not only did the players never give up. The student section is still there offering there support.
    4:12 p.m. - Mar 14, 2013

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  15. With a Sweet Sixteen-record 57 free throws made in this game, we might not have time to wait out the line at Rafferty's before the Marshall-Letcher tip in a couple of hours. Is Murray's still open? Is Time-Out Deli? How about Reno's?

    Oh, OK, let's just go to RAX.

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  16. WPBK might well be Kentucky's best radio station. Stanford's station is now playing "Right Next Door (Because of Me)" by the phenomenal Robert Cray. What a good song this is, and what a brilliant, brilliant vocal performance.

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  17. Pretty good tournament shaping up here. Unless Montgomery County or Shelby Valley can turn in giant upsets tomorrow, we're headed toward a No. 1-No. 2 semifinal Saturday between Marion County and Anderson County. OweCath and Manual is an interesting quarterfinal matchup tomorrow. Neither Letcher nor Marshall is in the Litkenhous Top 20, but the Lady Marshals are one of only 10 teams in the state to have own multiple state championships. Tonight's second game is another heavyweight matchup; Notre Dame is ranked fourth in the state, and Madison Central--which won the boys' championship last week--is ninth.

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  18. Here are Kentucky's multiple-times winners of girls' state hoops championships:

    -- Laurel County (no longer a high school) 1977, 1978, 1979, 1987 and 1991;

    -- Ashland Blazer 1921, 1922, 1924, 1928 and 1929;

    -- Lexington Catholic 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2006;

    -- Sacred Heart 1976, 2002, 2003 and 2004;

    -- Louisville Butler 1975, 1980 and 2008;

    -- Hazard 1930 and 1997;

    -- Marshall County 1982 and 1984;

    -- Louisville Mercy 1992 and 2009;

    -- West Louisville (no longer a high school) 1923 and 1927, and

    -- Woodburn 1931 and 1932.

    Manual and Clay County, Elizabethtown, Georgetown (no longer a high school), Lexington Henry Clay, Louisville Iroquois, Lexington Christian, M.C. Napier (no longer a high school), Maysville (no longer a high school), Nicholas County, Oldham County, Paris, Pulaski County, ROCK!-IS!-HARD!-castle County, Scott County, Louisville Southern, Union County, Bowling Green Warren Central, Olive Hill West Carter and Whitley County are one-time winners.

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  19. Now we get the giant-hit, Mary Chapin-Carpenter sendup of "Passionate Kisses," which was brilliantly written by Lucinda Williams. I heard a great interview once where Lucinda Williams talked about how long it took her to learn to write songs for her own voice; I figured she was saying that this great song was written in the period before that happened.

    Since I started working full time, I haven't listened to any record more than Lucinda Williams's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. I was single at the time that I was really into that album, and I always figured that Lucinda Williams and I would get married if I ended up meeting her somehow. So then my college girlfriend got to meet Lucinda Williams in some Herald-Leader backstage-boondoggle dealio after one of her concerts in Lexington, and the college girlfriend said that Lucinda Williams's boyfriend shows up and HE! LOOKED! A! LOT! LIKE! ME!

    So that was fantastic.

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    1. I have a good friend our age who spent years going on and on about "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." But I, of course, just keep listening to Suzanne Vega.

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  20. Marshall County led tonight's game by as many as 12, early in the second half, but Letcher County Central has scored all six of the points in the first four-plus minutes of the third. Letcher leads, 33-31.

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  21. With 2:22 to play in the third, Letcher is now ahead, 38-31. Marshall still has not scored in the quarter.

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  22. The Lady Marshals get a couple of free throws with 1:55 to break their third-quarter drought.

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  23. 40-35, Lady Cougars, with a quarter to go.

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  24. But now the Lady Marshals are back within 40-39 and headed to the free-throw line with 6:40 to play ... good! ... miss! ... Tied at 40.

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  25. 1:08 to go, and the Lady Marshals are now ahead by 52-48 ...

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  26. 25 seconds to go, and Marshall County calls timeout, clinging to a 52-51 advantage ...

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  27. 17 seconds ... Lady Marshals to the line ... HIT! ... MISS! ... 53-51 ...

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  28. Marshall back to the line ... hit, hit ... wait ... somehow I got off on my score ... well, heck, we were just lucky that I didn't get confused and live blog WPBK's rebroadcast of the Lincoln-Casey regional final ... LADY MARSHALS WIN, 56-52!

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  29. I'm pretty sure the KHSAA announcer said that Marshall County had lost its last SEVEN first-round Sweet Sixteen games.

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    1. Kristin Childers ‏@kchilders
      Glad the Marshall County Lady Marshals 23-year winless drought @ the #GSweet16 came to an end. Too rich of a tradition to last that long.
      8:09 PM - 14 Mar 13

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    2. Neal Bradley ‏@NealBradley
      Gritty win by the Lady Marshals overcoming a 1-11 shooting 3rd quarter that saw them outscored 13-4. @JoeyFreaknFosko says 1st win since '90
      8:51 PM - 14 Mar 13

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  30. Lindsey Barton ‏@LindseyBarton34
    Congrats to the Lady Marshals on their win tonight! Reppin' Region 1!🏀
    8:26 PM - 14 Mar 13


    REPPIN' REGION 1, INDEED!

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  31. Madison Central HS ‏@MCHSNews
    Getting close!!! MC 36 ND 39 with 6:19 left!!!
    9:43 PM - 14 Mar 13

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  32. And now a Feldhaus has scored to pull Madison Central to within one, 39-38, with 4:46 to go.

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  33. And then a couple of free throws by this Feldhaus pushes the Lady Indians ahead by 40-41. It's Madison Central's first lead since the first quarter. Notre Dame led this game by 14 with 2:06 to play in the third quarter.

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  34. The Pandas of Park Hills surge back to a 44-40 lead, but then this Feldhaus hits a three-pointer. It's 44-43, Notre Dame, with 2:42 to play.

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  35. MarkMaloney ‏@MarkMaloneyHL
    48 seconds left, still tied at 47. Madison Central calls timeout and will inbounds the ball. Ashton Feldhaus has 26 pt, 11 rb for Indians.
    9:57 PM - 14 Mar 13

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  36. Layup, MadCent, and it's 49-47 with 25 seconds to go. The Lady Indians used two timeouts in that possession, and they made it count.

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  37. Notre Dame scores a layup out of its timeout, too, and then they call a timeout again with 19 seconds to go after knotting the score again at 49.

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  38. Madison Central misses at the buzzer, and we're headed to overtime!

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  39. 52-52 ... 1:21 to play in overtime ... MadCent with the ball ...

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  40. Both of these teams rely primarily on their five starters. With 104 combined field goals attempted and 104 combined points scored through four quarters and now down to 51 seconds in overtime, only two shots and two points have been attempted by reserve Lady Indians and Pandas combined. One of Notre Dame's starters just fouled out.

    Madison Central gets a free throw to take a 53-52 lead.

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  41. But now Notre Dame retakes the lead, 54-53, and is headed to the free-throw line with 19 seconds after a MadCent foul on an offensive-rebound attempt.

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  42. Panda free throws: Good and good. 56-53, 18.7 seconds remaining. Notre Dame timeout ...

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  43. #PretendSportswriterProblems: I had to go to the front door to let the cat in, and, by the time I got back, Notre Dame had won, 57-53. The Pandas got two steals in that last 18.7 seconds.

    So, Madison Central has to settle for one state basketball championship this season, and Notre Dame moves on to lose to Marshall County in tomorrow night's last quarterfinal.

    REPPIN' REGION 1!

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  44. Jason Frakes ‏@kyhighs
    Found out postgame that entire Notre Dame "student section" was pretty much Lincoln County's girls' team. #GSWEET16
    10:24 PM - 14 Mar 13

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    1. And why not, given that Lincoln County had already canceled school tomorrow even though the Lady Pates lost today?

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    2. Greg Spencer ‏@gspence1
      @kyhighs I'm guessing the nuns didn't let the student body off of school for Friday.
      10:25 PM - 14 Mar 13

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  45. Meanwhile, OweCath's Becca Greenwell just Tweeted that she has now amassed 3,000 Twitter followers.

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