Mason County’s Sarah Payne drives the lane during Friday night’s contest with Montgomery County in the 10th Region semifinals in Carlisle. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
GIRLS 10TH REGION SEMIFINALS
Mason County’s Allison Gibbs looks to pass to a teammate. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
CARLISLE — The issue that haunted Mason County this year in losses plagued them again on Friday night in the 10th Region semifinals.
Scoring the basketball.
The Lady Royals just couldn’t get anything going offensively in a 49-21 loss to Montgomery County, ending their season at 18-10.
“We didn’t do anything we talked about doing for the last three days offensively. We couldn’t even get people in the right places,” Lady Royals coach Kevin Bundy said. “We rushed everything, played way, way too fast virtually all night. When we did get some shots, they didn’t go. They’re a really good team and hard to overcome those misses as bad as it was tonight.”
It took the full eight minutes in the first quarter to get their first points, Macey Littleton hitting a three at the first quarter horn as they faced a 14-3 deficit.
Despite the lack of offense, they found themselves down just eight in the closing minutes of the half, another Littleton three making it 16-8 before the Lady Indians went into half up 21-10.
“We were right there because we played really hard. We battled on the glass and we really guarded well. Even though we really struggled offensively, we were one three away from all the sudden this being a ballgame again. Unfortunately that three never came and we really struggled coming out of halftime.”
But the offensive woes continued into the third, Littleton again being the one to break a long scoreless drought, this one over five minutes, but by that time Montgomery had put together a 12-0 run out of the half.
Savannah Parker was just too much down low for the Lady Royals, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, her nine-point effort in the third pushing Montgomery’s lead to 38-12 after three and helping the Lady Indians win the rebound battle 43-29 on the night.
“The buzzword for us since the beginning of the postseason has been composure. This has been a physical tournament, physical tournament both ways and been fairly consistent, but no one takes more of a beating than Savannah does. She’s been able to reel herself back in and focus on the next one a lot quicker and I really think that contributed to the night that she had tonight,” Lady Indians coach Dustin High said.
With the wind taken out of their sails, the Lady Royals never got any closer in the fourth, putting an end to their season.
They were led by Littleton’s eight, Avery Sims and Nariyah Harrison later named to the All-Tournament team after the game.
They’ll now have to move forward with the loss of four seniors in Harrison, Hannah Adkins, Allison Gibbs and Taliyah Clayborn, but do return six of their top 10 and have some promising young talent after Bundy’s first year.
“At 18-10, it’s a good start. I told the seniors they left here a better place then when they found it. As a result of that they should be proud. We made a lot of strides and still have a long way to go. A lot of the girls have really bought in and a lot of the girls coming back have really gotten better. The future is really bright for the program and at the same time I think that the seniors probably left here playing the best basketball that they’ve played their careers here. At least that’s what I’ve been told,” Bundy said.
Montgomery will even admit they didn’t have their best offensive display of the evening, connecting on just one 3-pointer, but did it with defense, the Lady Royals having nearly as many turnovers (20), as they did points (21) on the night.
“Throughout the season and really the last couple of seasons we’ve really hung our hat on defense,” High said. “The old adage defense travels. Didn’t shoot the ball well, haven’t in this tournament, haven’t shot the ball great all season. We’re capable of it all season, hoping to catch that lightning in the bottle tomorrow. Sure would be fun to have those stars align, but at the end of the day we’re relying on our defense.”
Now comes a game where many anticipated before the season started, a Montgomery County and George Rogers Clark 10th Region final. The Lady Cards have had the upper hand in the first three matchups, the two meeting for a fourth time Saturday night at 7 p.m.
“Turnovers and rebounds. That’s the key for most people beating Clark County. If we’re going to beat them this year, I’d rather do it no other way than tomorrow night,” High said.
The two 40th District foes have been the upper echelon for the majority of the season and will have one last battle for the right to Rupp Arena and the Sweet 16 next week.
LADY INDIANS 49, LADY ROYALS 21
MASON COUNTY — 3-7-2-9 — 21
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — 14-7-17-11 — 49
Scoring
Mason (21) — Littleton 8, Thomas 4, Reed 3, Sims 2, Payne 2, Young 2
Montgomery (49) — Parker 24, Barrier 6, Oney 4, Harris 4, Dillon 3, Purvis 3, Routt 3, Warner 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers Made: Mason 3, Montgomery 1
Free Throws: Mason 0/2, Montgomery 8/15
Rebounds: Mason 29 (Sims 4), Montgomery 43 (Parker 15)
Turnovers: Mason 20, Montgomery 13
Personal Fouls: Mason 13, Montgomery 10
Records: Mason County 18-10, Montgomery County 21-12
