Henry Clay takes ‘baby steps’ all the way to the 42nd District girls’ basketball title
When asked how she planned to turn around a Henry Clay girls’ basketball program that went 2-9 a year ago during a COVID-19 plagued season, first-year coach Ashley Garrard simply said “baby steps.”
Given that the Blue Devils are now 42nd District champions after a 58-55 victory over tournament host Bryan Station on Friday, that might be one big baby.
Henry Clay (17-12) entered the tournament as its third seed after having a 3-5 record within the district during the regular season. The Blue Devils had to go through No. 2 seed Frederick Douglass and the top-seeded Defenders for the title.
“Hey, it was baby steps. And then we started crawling, walking and then we ran,” Garrard said, smiling. “It’s amazing. What are the odds? We beat the 1 and 2 seed and we had been beaten by both of them two times.
“But each time, we were getting better.”
Henry Clay senior forward Kennedy Williams scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while point guard Ariyanna Sutton added 11 points for the Blue Devils in a game that had five lead changes and eight ties.
After Henry Clay established a lead that stretched to as many as 10 points in the second quarter, the Blue Devils never trailed again. But it wasn’t easy. Bryan Station tied the game five times in the second half, never quite getting over the hump.
“We were ahead and had a chance to put it away and we gave them every chance in the world,” Garrard lamented. “It got ugly, but you’ve got to keep pushing. That’s one thing about this team. We do not give up.”
Bryan Station’s Makari Murphy tied the game 52-52 with 1:51 to play, but Henry Clay answered with a Williams layup and two Sutton free throws to push the lead back to 56-52 with 43 seconds left. The Defenders missed a pair of free throws and four of their last five shots in the fourth quarter to help Henry Clay hold on.
Tania Woodall led Bryan Station with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jailenn Green added 13 points for the Defenders (12-13).
This is Henry Clay’s first 42nd District title since 2016.
Both teams advance to next week’s 11th Region Tournament. Henry Clay will get to host a first-round game as a district champion before the tournament moves onto Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena for the semifinals and finals.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 10:15 AM.
