On the surface, Logan County’s 42-39 home loss to Allen County-Scottsville Tuesday was the direct result of the Lady Cougars’ poor shooting. After all, they hit just 4 of 24 three-point attempts (16.7 percent), 9 of 33 two-pointers (27.3 percent) and 9 of 16 free throws (56.2 percent).
Digging deeper, though, fans might have reason to believe the young Lady Cougars rose to the occasion to get this close to a Lady Patriot team with a multitude of experience and the quality of players Allison Meador and Taylor Carter.
Meador, who averaged 15.4 points per game as a junior, scored 18 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Carter scored 6 points and had 8 rebounds, but her defense on Lady Cougar leader Ally Hinton was a huge factor in AC-S’s win.
Consider this: Hinton had played in 55 games the past three years, always as a reserve. Kadyn Costello and Gracie Borders saw action in 33 and 24 games last year, but that’s their career total. No one else is close.
For Allen County, Jae McReynolds had played in 108 games, Carter 72, Meador 58, Haleigh Steenbergen 40 and Jaylee Steenbergen 28. Meador played in 22 games as an eighth grader, but sat out her freshmen and sophomore years with knee injuries. She has come back strong and effective.
And still, with all these odds against them, the Lady Cougars were in the lead after each of the first three quarters and came within three points of sending the game into overtime.
Allen County led 39-32 after a pair of free throws by McReynolds. Coach Dedra Adler’s team outscored them 7-3 the rest of the way. Emily Borders and Gracie Borders each hit a shot, and Emerson McKinnis put together 3-point plays in the last minute.
Meador, who scored 13 points in the second half, hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to give AC-S that three-point margin.
The Lady Cougars dominated most of the first half. Costello’s steal and goal put Logan up 18-9 with five minutes remaining before intermission.
Meador and Aubrie Naiser each hit 3-pointers for AC-S, but Gracie Borders banked in a trey and Hinton added another to match them, and Logan led 24-18 at the half. Gracie Borders had scored 10, and Hinton had 6 and Costello 5. Neither Costello nor Hinton scored in the second half.
The third quarter was extremely low scoring. With Meador scoring 6 points, the Lady Patriots took their first lead at 26-25. Finally Logan got a basket with McGinnis scoring on an assist from Kaelyn Perdue with 1:20 remaining in the quarter. Then eighth grader Takylah Mason hit a shot with 12 seconds to keep the Lady Cougars ahead for a third straight stop at 29-27.
AC-S scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and never trailed again.
The Lady Patriots had trouble shooting over the Lady Cougar defense. They were just 2 of 13 from three-point range and 11 of 26 from two-point. They won at the foul line, hitting 14 of 22, five more than the home team.
Gracie Borders led the Lady Cougars with 15 points, more than double any teammate.
AC-S (42) Allison Meador 18, Jaylee Covington10, Taylor Carter 6, Aubrie Naiser 6, Jae McReynolds 2
LCHS (39) Gracie Borders 15, Emerson McKinnis 7, Abby Hinton 6, Kadyn Costello 5, Emily Borders 4, TaKylah Mason 2, Brianna Shelton, Kaelyn Perdue, Sierra Seiber