When Logan County’s first-team all-region standout Paige Vanzant fouled out in the last minute of the Lady County’s regional opener Monday night, Metcalfe County finished a 15-point comeback to tie the score at 47-47 at Diddle Arena.
With Paige banned to the bench, her twin sister Peyton and their close-as-a-sister teammate Kennedy Nichols took over. Kennedy hit the go-ahead goal and Peyton went 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final 26 seconds to lead the Lady Cougars to a 53-50 win over the Lady Hornets.
It was the sixth time in seven years that the LCHS girls have not only won the 13th District championship but also at least one game at region. In the seven years that Finley Baird has been head coach of her alma mater, the Lady Cougars are now 18-6 in the postseason.
The Lady Cougars led 13-6 after a quarter. When Paige Vanzant hit a long 3-pointer and Nichols stuffed a rebound back in, Logan led 22-13 and it seemed victory would be relatively easy. The Lady Cougars led 25-17 and those two had 15 rebounds between them at the half. When fellow senior Addie White hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the Lady Cougars led 39-24 late in the third quarter. But that lead was down to 10 after three quarters.
The fifth senior starter, Gracie Christian, set two gym-shaking picks (and Diddle is a big arena) in the middle of the last quarter. A mystery fourth foul called on her for one of them sent her to the bench, and the Lady Cougars missed her while she was out of the game.
The Lady Hornets’ Jaycie Harper had a sensational fourth quarter with 13 of her 19 points coming in the second half. Braelyn Davis also had a big fourth quarter and finished with13 points. She hit a field goal and then two free throws to tie the game before Peyton Vanzee and Kennedy Nichols worked their magic.
Nichols finished not only with a double-double, she totaled 16 points and 17 rebounds. Peyton Vanzant hit all 6 of her free throws and scored 13. Paige Vanzant scored 9 points and pulled down 14 rebounds from her point guard slot.
Christian scored 4 points and Kadyn Costello 2. Abby Hinton played several valuable minutes.
The Lady Cougars will play defending regional champion Barren County in Friday’s semifinals at 7:45 p.m. The championship game will be played Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Cougar boys begin regional play Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. against Cumberland County.