Aryanna Davis works her way down the court in the 39th District semifinals on Feb. 23, 2026.

Aryanna Davis works her way down the court in the 39th District semifinals on Feb. 23, 2026.

<p>Bracken County’s Kadence Thoroughman charges toward the goal against the Lady Panthers in the 39th District semifinals on Feb. 23, 2026.</p>

Bracken County’s Kadence Thoroughman charges toward the goal against the Lady Panthers in the 39th District semifinals on Feb. 23, 2026.

The reigning three-time 39th District champions, the Bracken County Lady Bears, tipped off against the Augusta Lady Panthers in the 39th District semifinals at the Fieldhouse on Monday night.

The Lady Bears entered the tournament as the 39th District’s No. 2 seed, facing off against the No. 3 seed Lady Panthers. The two had met twice in the regular season, Bracken County taking the win in both of their previous contests. This week, Augusta entered the semifinals hoping to pull off an upset and face the Lady Royals in Thursday’s district championship game.

“This was my first district game as a head coach,” said the Lady Bears’ head coach, Johnathon Nelson. “The girls played pretty hard start to finish. I didn’t want to make it too positive in the locker room just now, but I told them we’ve got to keep our level of intensity up from start to finish consistently, and I felt like we were a hair behind.”

Bracken County quickly pulled out ahead of Augusta, leading 15-5 by the end of the first quarter and extending their lead to 25 (33-8) in the second. Augusta entered halftime with 18 points, trailing behind 37-18.

“At halftime we talked about our rebounds. They were out-rebounding us, and of course, our turnovers, we needed to cut down on those. We just tried to put in some more motion on offense for the second half,” said the Lady Panthers’ head coach, Dana Bach.

Up 19 points heading into the third quarter, Bracken County returned to the court determined to extend their lead and secure their spot in the district championship.

Both the Lady Bears and Lady Panthers put up 14 points in the third quarter, allowing Bracken County to maintain their lead into the fourth.

“When we’re all clicking and playing as a team, the game looks so easy,” said Coach Nelson. “My hat’s off to Augusta, they did their thing, but the girls just seemed like they were clicking on all cylinders and they wanted it. Offensively, everybody was looking to shoot, and we just had a few go in.”

Augusta outscored the Lady Bears 12-11 in the fourth quarter, cutting their lead to 18. However, despite the Lady Panthers’ offensive push, the Lady Bears remained strong, ultimately taking the victory in the 39th District semifinals with a final score of 62-44.

This loss marks the end of Augusta’s 2025-2026 season, as well as Coach Bach’s first season as head coach of the Lady Panthers.

“We’ve got a good group coming back next year still. We have four freshmen, a couple of seventh graders. We’re just trying to recruit some more players from Augusta, get some more kids to play,” said Coach Bach.

Augusta will say goodbye to two seniors at the end of the season: Kalleigh Reynolds and Emma Carl.

“Both good girls, both worked hard. We haven’t been together that long, but they adjusted to our style of basketball, listened and gave it their all,” said Coach Bach.

With this win, Bracken County will return to the Fieldhouse tomorrow night to face off against the Mason County Lady Royals in the 39th District championship game, scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. For the past two years, the Lady Bears have defeated Mason County in the district championship, and they are prepared to do it again.

“We’re one game at a time. Our focus right now is on Mason, and whoever is in front of us when regionals come, we’re just looking to be upset. Upset, upset, upset,” said Coach Nelson.

The first round of the 10th Region girls basketball tournament will be held at the home gym of each district champion, with semifinal and championship games to be held at Harrison County.

AUGUSTA: 44

BRACKEN COUNTY: 62

LADY PANTHERS

5-13-14-12 – 44

LADY BEARS

15-22-14-11 – 62

Scoring

Augusta: Hinson 17, Davis 13, Carl 5, Reynolds 5, Young 4

Bracken: Sharp 22, Johnson 17, Bachman 13, Thoroughman 4, Burton 2, Lonaker 2, Rudd 2

Game Stats

Field Goals: Augusta 13/45, Bracken 26/66

3-Pointers: Augusta 4/17, Bracken 2/15

Free Throws: Augusta 14/25, Bracken 8/13

Fouls: Augusta 12, Bracken 21

Records: Augusta 7-14, Bracken 15-12