MOUNT OLIVET – The Pendleton County girls’ basketball team rolled into Mount Olivet on Wednesday with four straight wins after a loss to Bath County in the opener.

Robertson County tried to cool them down and took a 40-39 lead with under seven minutes remaining, but the Lady Devils were unable to connect on free throws down the stretch and fell, 54-50.

“We lost the game at the free throw line and we lost the game first half,” said Robertson County coach Thomas Mitchell. “I made some coaching mistakes as I always do and our effort just wasn’t there in the first half like it was in the second.”

The Lady Devils went just 3-of-10 from the line in the final quarter after reaching the double bonus with 5:43 to play. The 38th District is in the first season of seeding, meaning the LadyCats now have a leg up on Robertson County in the standings.

“I was reminding the girls about that and they were like, ‘Oh yeah! Wait a second, this one really, really matters!’ This was a huge game for us,” said Pendleton County coach Paige Bowling. “Our district is always tough. Harrison, I would think, is a clear-cut favorite for us. We don’t necessarily want to get stuck in that four-seed game and have them first round if that’s how it ends up going. This was a huge win for us.”

Pendleton County led, 26-17, at the end of the half after holding Robertson County to just eight points in the first quarter and nine in the second. Samantha Verst did most of the damage early for the LadyCats, collecting seven points in the first quarter on her way to a team-high 14 on the evening.

The Lady Devils stormed back to start the second half with a 7-0 run on two free throws from Sierra Maybrier, a 3-pointer from Molly Hester and a steal and layup from Breanna Green to make it a two-point game.

“Second half effort I was very pleased with, very pleased with,” said Mitchell. “They worked hard, they started playing defense, got the steals and took the ball to the basket instead of just dribbling around like we did a lot in the first half.”

The LadyCats got a little breathing room after makes from Shelby Turner and Kennedy Pugh, but Robertson County closed the quarter down only one after Abri Roberts put back a miss and was fouled with 8.7 seconds left in the frame. Her free throw made it 38-37.

Emma Courtney hit one of the Lady Devils’ three free throws in the final quarter to tie the game, 38-38, but Shelby Manor gave Pendleton County back the lead with a free throw of her own shortly after.

Robertson County took their first lead since the first quarter when Hester drove to the baseline, crossed up her defender and knocked down a jumper. It gave the Lady Devils the lead, 40-39, but a 5-0 run capped off by a putback from Casey Jones put the LadyCats back on top.

Robertson County cut the lead to three with 1:20 remaining on a layup from Green. Pendleton County got the clock down to 9.6 seconds after that, before Verst was fouled and knocked down a free throw to close out the win.

“She does all the little things. She sets screens, she knows where everybody needs to be on every play, she always knows who she’s guarding,” said Bowling. “There’s a reason she never comes out of the game.”

Behind Verst’s 14 points were Manor and Turner with nine each and Jones with eight. Pendleton County moves to 5-1 with the win and will travel to East Jessamine on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. game.

“The kids are just playing really hard,” said Bowling. “We’re playing a lot faster this year, which they’ve enjoyed, and we’ve just honestly hit a bit of a streak where we’ve been able to shoot the ball a little bit better than we did at times last year and the kids are just working hard. It’s all them.”

Green finished with 14 points for Robertson County, while Courtney had 12, Hester had 11 and Roberts had seven. The Lady Devils fall to 2-5 and are scheduled to host Nicholas County in a district seeding game on Friday.

LADYCATS 54, LADY DEVILS 50

PENDLETON COUNTY—12-14-12-16—54

ROBERTSON COUNTY—-8-9-20-13—50

Scoring:

PENDLETON COUNTY (54) — S. Verst 14, Manor 9, Turner 9, Jones 8, O. Verst 6, Burgemeir 4, Eckart 2, Pugh 2

ROBERTSON COUNTY (50) — Green 14, Courtney 12, Hester 11, Roberts 7, Maybrier 5, Gay 1

Rebounds: Pendleton County 45 (Pugh, Eckart, Jones 6), Robertson County 39 (Roberts 12)

Turnovers: Pendleton County 20, Robertson County 17

Records: Pendleton County 5-1, Robertson County 2-5

Robertson County’s Molly Hester makes a pass while being guarded by Pendleton County’s Samantha Verst, Wednesday, in Mount Olivet. The Lady Cats escaped with a 54-50 victory.
https://maysville-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_121318-spt-robertsongirls.jpgRobertson County’s Molly Hester makes a pass while being guarded by Pendleton County’s Samantha Verst, Wednesday, in Mount Olivet. The Lady Cats escaped with a 54-50 victory. Terry Prather, The Ledger Independent
Robertson struggles at the line, Pendleton wins fifth straight

JARED MACDONALD

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