Turning a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, the Logan County Lady Cougars ended Allen County-Scottsville’s remarkable two-year run Sunday afternoon. Coach Finley Baird’s team beat the Lady Patriots 47-41 in the opening game of the Fourth Region Tournament at Diddle Arena.
Not only was Coach Brad Bond’s AC-S team the defending regional champion but advanced to the state finals last year. AC-S finished this season 25-5 Sunday, including a regular season win over Logan County. An opponent that could end their 2016 run had to be special.
That team hit John Oldham Court in the uniforms of the Lady Cougars. The five starting seniors played big roles again while winning their regional opener for the second straight season.
Center Brooke Barnes, who was named the Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College Player of the Game, finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds plus 3 blocked shots.
Forward Rachel Barnett carried the team early. She finished with a team-high 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Guard Torrie Pollard hit 7 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter and scored all 12 of her points in the final stanza, the 11th of which was her 1,000th career point. She was also credited with three assists and two blocked shots.
Forward Cierra Johnson was plagued by foul trouble throughout the game but still hit some big shots when the Lady Cougars needed them most. She added three assists and a steal before fouling out.
Guard Taleia Mason, the shortest of the starters, used her hustle and quickness to pull in eight rebounds and to make life miserable for Lady Patriot ballhandlers. She had three steals and two assists.
No reserve scored, but Ann-Meguiar Bouldin, Abbi Lindsey, Logan Williamson and Jessica Hines all contributed to the win.
So did Baird’s coaching staff, Zach Simpson, George Vanderpoole and Nicole Meguiar.
Yet for over three-quarters of the game, the outcome was very much in doubt, even though AC-S led only a minute and eight seconds in the first 20 minutes of the game. That came on the very first score of the game, which was a layup by Sarah Sutton. In total, the Lady Patriots led less than seven minutes.
In fact, the first few minutes were filled with turnovers and fumbles. AC-S couldn’t move the ball on the opening possession and Sutton threw the ball out of bounds while being frustrated by Johnson’s quickness on the point of the defense. On the other end, Pollard fell down as a pass was being thrown her, resulting in the Lady Patriot goal. Mason threw a pass to a Lady Patriots, but drew a charge on the other end.
But when Pollard made a steal and a sharp pass, she set up Johnson for the go-ahead 3-pointer that gave the Lady Cougars the lead until midway in the third period.
Barnett scored six of Logan’s first-quarter points and matched Allen County’s team total, as the Lady Cougars led 11-6 at the first stop.
The biggest Logan lead came on a Barnes bucket and a Johnson assist to make it 13-6. Johnson drew her third foul with 2:05 remaining in the half. Coach Baird started to replace her but left her in long enough to hit a 3-pointer, which proved to be the difference in the Lady Cougars’ 20-18 halftime lead.
Throughout the game, AC-S duplicated the defensive plan employed by many Lady Cougar opponents this season—running a box and one. Pollard, the versatile player around most of what Logan does revolves, had a Lady Patriot two inches from her nose most of the game. They rarely touched her with their hands but their torsos were often in contact.
Officials Andrew Powell, Tim Bass and David Stubblefield didn’t consider that to be fouling. In fact, the first foul called in that chest-to-chest war game was called on Pollard for trying to get breathing room. Obviously the tide turned when she went to the foul line five times in the fourth frame.
Pollard’s free throw with 6:50 left in the game put Logan up 31-30, and the Lady Cougars never trailed again. She followed that with a 3-pointer, and Barnes’ layup with 2:57 made the lead six. Johnson’s free throw with 2:03 took it to seven at 39-32. The biggest lead of the game came at 47-39 on another Pollard pair of free throws.
Williamson, who appeared destined to be a star throughout high school before suffering serious knee injuries, used her kills for some valuable ball-handling late in the game.
Mason Towery of AC-S was the game’s top scorer with 15 points and added 14 rebounds. Sutton had 14 points and 8 boards while Jordan Brooks added 12 points and 6 rebounds. No other Lady Patriot scored. The rest of the team managed only eight rebounds, maybe because they were spending so much energy alternating their harassment of Pollard.
AC-S has been forced to play the past couple of weeks without senior Savannah Gregory, the program’s second leading scorer all-time who tore up her knee late in the season.
The Lady Cougars (22-8) will play Friday at 6 p.m. against regional favorite Bowling Green, which won Sunday’s second game against Russell County after being upset by South Warren in the 14th District finals.
Score by Quarters: 1) LCHS 11-6, 2) 20-18, 3) AC-S 30-26, Final) Logan County 47, Allen County-Scottsville 41
LCHS (47) Rachel Johnson 13, Torrie Pollard 12, Cierra Johnson 10, Brooke Barnes 10, Taleia Mason 2, Ann-Meguiar Bouldin, Abbi Lindsey, Jessica Hines, Logan Williamson
AC-S (41) Mason Towery 15, Sarah Sutton 14, Jordan Brooks 12, Sydney Hurt, RaeAnn Stafford, Sydney Day, Jaclyn Saylors, Kali Mutter