‘We fight to the end.’ Meade County mounts massive rally to top Boyd County in Sweet 16.
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2022 Girls’ Sweet 16 coverage
Click below to read all of the coverage from Kentucky.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader during the Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament in Rupp Arena.
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Down by 16 in the second half, Meade County leaned on its defensive pressure to mount one of the most impressive comebacks in the history of the girls’ state basketball tournament.
The 3rd Region champions rallied to defeat Boyd County, 53-46, in the first game of the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Wednesday. They’ll play the winner between Bethlehem and Bullitt East, who played in Wednesday’s second game, in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Freshman Peyton Bradley scored a game-high 23 points and had six assists to pace the Green Wave, who had the game’s first lead but wouldn’t hold one again until there was 4:18 left to play. They exchanged buckets with the Lions from there before taking control at the free-throw line inside the final two minutes.
Head coach Dina Hackert played for Meade County’s last two state quarterfinalists in 1985 and 1986. Her team had a decisive crowd advantage. A trip to Rupp Arena from Brandenburg, where its high school is located, takes about as long — two hours — as it does from Boyd County in Ashland.
“I’m moved to tears that our community would come out in this fashion,” Hackert said. “There’s something great about being from a rural area.”
How it happened
After several misfires on both sides, Meade got the scoring started with a transition layup by Annabelle Babb. Boyd from there mostly capitalized at the free-throw line to build an advantage. Bradley made the game’s first three-pointer to pull the Green Wave within 11-7 as the quarter closed.
Meade got within two points on a Sage Crawley jumper to open the second quarter but a Boyd barrage soon followed. Emilee Neese, a freshman, connected on three three-pointers in the span of a 14-2 run that pushed the Lions’ lead to double digits. They led 29-16 at the half and got up by 16 early in the third quarter before the Green Wave rally.
Meade’s “run and jump” defense over the course of the game figured into 23 Boyd County turnovers, off which the Green Wave manufactured 23 points; the Lions forced 14 Meade turnovers but got only three points out of them.
“Our team, we fight to the end,” said Bradley, a 45-percent three-point shooter who went 4-for-8 from long distance. “We know we’re never going to give up.”
Boyd County regained the lead on an Audrey Biggs layup with 2:07 to play. Thirteen seconds later, Lions star Jasmine Jordan picked up her fourth and fifth fouls as she battled Bradley for a rebound. Paige Medley made both technical free throws and Bradley made each of hers to put Meade County in front for good, 47-44. Bradley made six more free throws from there and finished 9-for-10 at the line after not visiting it before the final quarter.
“I’m a shooter and I’ve worked on my shot since I was like 3,” Bradley said. “I’ve always had the ball in my hands, so I was pretty confident in that.”
It was Meade County’s 11th straight victory after an overtime loss at Bullitt East, whom they could meet on Friday. It was not the Green Wave’s first time rallying from double digits down in the second half this season; they trailed by 14 at Assumption last month, eventually winning 66-60.
“That game was really good for us, it was the last week of the (regular) season,” Hackert said. “ ... They don’t get rattled. I might push them a little bit, but other than having to push them every now and then, they don’t get rattled.”
Girls’ Sweet 16
What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion.
When: Wednesday through Saturday
Where: Rupp Arena
Tickets: Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org.
Girls’ Sweet 16 schedule
At Rupp Arena
Wednesday’s first-round games
Meade County 53, Boyd County 46
Bullitt East (30-4) vs. Bethlehem (23-7)
McCracken County (31-1) vs. Southwestern (25-7)
Henderson County (24-4) vs. Franklin County (27-7)
Thursday’s first-round games
11 a.m.: Bowling Green (28-7) vs. Letcher County Central (26-9)
1:30 p.m.: Pikeville (31-2) vs. Cooper (23-4)
6 p.m.: Corbin (25-6) vs. Clark County (30.2)
8:30 p.m.: Sacred Heart (32-3) vs. Anderson County (30-4)
Friday’s quarterfinals
11 a.m.: McCracken County-Southwestern winner vs. Henderson County-Franklin County winner.
1:30 p.m.: Bullitt East-Bethlehem winner vs. Boyd County-Meade County winner.
6 p.m.: Pikeville-Cooper winner vs. Bowling Green-Letcher County Central winner.
8:30 p.m.: Corbin-Clark County winner vs. Sacred Heart-Anderson County winner.
Saturday’s games
11 a.m.: Semifinal 1: Winners of Friday’s morning session.
1:30 p.m.: Semifinal 2: Winners of Friday’s evening session.
7 p.m.: Championship.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 2:13 PM.
