St. Pat’s Lillian Klee charges down the court in the semifinal round of the 39th district tournament, against the Bracken County Lady Bears on Feb. 26, 2024.
Nicole Archibald works her way toward the goal in the semifinal round of the 39th district tournament, against the St. Pat Lady Saints on Feb. 26, 2024.
The Bracken County Lady Bears took on the St. Pat Lady Saints in the first round of the 39th district tournament on Monday.
Tipping off in their home gym, the Lady Bears were confident in their ability to advance to the championship game, and get a chance to defend their district title. Coming out of the gate strong, the Lady Bears soared past the Lady Saints in the first quarter, holding St. Pat to just two points, with two free throws scored by Lillian Klee.
The Lady Bears led 19-2 by the end of the first quarter, and were eager to continue to build upon their lead.
“I think our defense created our offense. We were able to get out in transition and shoot a bunch of layups. Then we hit the mid-range. Big night for Brianna Bauer she hit her 500th rebound. When you get into second chance points that really helps. We wanted to work on our defense, when we played Fleming County we think that’s really what got us to overtime, was our defense.” said Lady Bears head coach, Troy Archibald.
Bracken County’s defense held strong throughout the second quarter, allowing St. Pat just five more points. As the first half ticked by, the Lady Bears’ offense continued to excel, with several goals from Nicole Archibald and threes scored by Ella Johnson, Bracken County out scored the Lady Saints 20-5 in the second quarter, heading into halftime leading 39-7.
As the two teams returned to the court, the Lady Bears had built up a comfortable lead, and were confident that they would be able to maintain the pressure and pull out a win. St. Pat came out strong in the second half, putting up the most points of any quarter this go around, but it just wasn’t enough to catch up to the Lady Bears.
“Normally I wouldn’t run the score up if that’s how you want to look at it, but we still had to play our varsity girls. We mixed and matched, to keep them in there to prepare for Thursday night, whether we go against Augusta or Mason County, we just wanted to keep the girls on the court as much as we could. No disrespect to St. Pat at all, but when it’s district time you’ve gotta prepare for the next game.” said coach Archibald.
At the top of the third quarter, the Lady Saints were down 32, and were fighting hard to stay in the contest. Despite the huge point deficit, the Lady Saints refused to quit and continued to play tough until the final buzzer sounded.
With Bracken County putting up 15 more points in the third quarter, out scoring the Lady Saints once again 15-12, the Lady Bears had built up a strong enough lead for a running clock, and were looking to end the game out as strong as they came in.
As the fourth quarter ticked by, the Lady Saints put up eight more points, with four goals scored by Lillian Klee. The Bracken County offense continued to put up several points, putting up 19 more before the final buzzer sounded. A buzzer beater by Jordan Ahrens ended the game for Bracken County, the Lady Bears leading 73-27.
This game marked the end of the Lady Saints’ long and tough season, and while they do go home without seeing the district championship, the team has a lot to be proud of at the end of the 2023-24 season. With several of the Lady Saints having not seen any varsity minutes prior to this seasons’ tip off, the team has improved dramatically throughout the year, and will only continue to do so for years to come.
Bracken County will now go on to face off against the winners of the Augusta Lady Panthers (13-13)/ Mason County Lady Royals (19-10) game tomorrow night, for the 39th district championship.
“We’re gonna bring in the boys tomorrow and Wednesday, to help prepare us for either team. It’s gonna be a dogfight who ever we play. Both teams are prepared, they’ve both got good coaching. It’s been a while since Bracken County’s had back to back titles, hopefully we can come out Thursday, play really good basketball and win it again.” said coach Archibald.
LADY SAINTS 27
LADY BEARS 73
ST. PAT- 2-5-12-8- 27
BRACKEN COUNTY- 19-20-15-19 73
Scoring
St. Pat- Gallenstein 14, Klee 10, Kimball 3
Bracken- Archibald 17, Colvin 2, E. Johnson 8, Ahrens 4, Sharp 3, Bachman 1, Lippert 9, Burton 2, Smith 4, Bauer 9
Game Stats
Field Goals: St. Pat 8, Bracken 26
3-Pointers: St. Pat 2, Bracken 3
Free Throws: St. Pat 5/9, Bracken 12/15
Fouls: St. Pat 10, Bracken 7
Records: St. Pat 2-15, Bracken 16-14
