Mason County’s Hannah Adkins goes up for two of her team-high 14 points on Saturday during the Lady Royals Showcase against Bracken County. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Mason County was able to overcome poor shooting night and win another game with their defense in a 51-39 victory over Bracken County on Saturday’s Lady Royals Showcase played at the Fieldhouse.
The Lady Royals shot 25 percent from the field, but knocked down eight 3-pointers and forced 21 Lady Bear turnovers to improve to 3-0 on the season.
They’ve been able to weather the off shooting nights so far, winning their third straight game with their field goal percentage in the 20’s and committing 20 turnovers on Saturday.
“We had 20 turnovers against St. Henry, 18 last night. We have to value the basketball. Seems like the culture right now within the team is if we throw it away that’s okay and we’ll get it back. It’s not okay, the ball needs to get on the rim every time we have it and if it does, we’re going to win a ton of games. We can’t just give up possessions and makes our work on the defensive end that much harder. We’ve got to value the ball,” Lady Royals coach Kevin Bundy said.
Hannah Adkins led Mason County with 14 points, Sedaya Thomas igniting a big third quarter with 10 of her 11 points in the Lady Royals 21-point frame.
Nariyah Harrison and Avery Sims were active on the glass and helped the Lady Royals win the rebounding battle 41-31, both pulling down seven rebounds, Harrison hitting three 3-pointers for nine points and Sims chipping in five.
While Mason County’s shooting night was cold, the Lady Bears were polar, Nicole Archibald the only one to hit a shot from the field in the first half as they trailed 20-11 at the break.
“We didn’t get nothing offensively in the first half. We came out flat, just something we’ve got to learn and grow through,” Lady Bears coach Troy Archibald said.
The 21-point quarter got the Lady Royals up 41-28 headed to the fourth, taking as big of a lead of 17 before the Lady Bears closed out with the final five points of the game.
Nicole Archibald led Bracken with 19 points as the team finished with just eight made field goals, knocking down 20-of-30 from the free throw line to keep them within striking distance through the majority.
“We got after it on defense and felt like we caused some problems. Offensively we’ve just got to get better looks. We do a lot of standing around. All these girls are capable of scoring, they don’t have the confidence yet,” Archibald said.
The Lady Royals get Robertson County on Wednesday and will get two tough tests on Thursday and Saturday when they face George Rogers Clark and Conner.
“We’re still learning each other a little bit. I think I know them and I like to think they’re getting to know me. I think it’s just hard to get to know a new way to play so to speak and they are struggling with it a little bit right now but they are 3-0. We’re 3-0 because we’re winning games by doing the little things,” Bundy said.
Bracken County opened 2-0 after defeating their county rival Augusta Friday night, they’ll return to the court Tuesday at Pendleton County.
LADY ROYALS 51, LADY BEARS 39
BRACKEN COUNTY – 5-6-17-11 — 39
MASON COUNTY – 13-7-21-10 — 51
Scoring
Bracken (39) – Archibald 19, Sharp 6, Riley 6, Johnson 4, Kirk 2, Bauer 2
Mason (51) – Adkins 14, Thomas 11, Harrison 9, Littleton 5, Gibbs 5, Sims 5, Burns 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers Made: Bracken 3, Mason 8
Free Throws: Bracken 20/30, Mason 11/17
Rebounds: Bracken 31 (Three with 5), Mason 41 (Harrison and Sims 7)
Turnovers: Bracken 21, Mason 20
Personal Fouls: Bracken 13, Mason 23
Records: Bracken County 2-1, Mason County 3-0
