Southwestern knocks chip off its shoulder and takes down McCracken County in Sweet 16
READ MORE
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.
Expand All
It wasn’t lost on Southwestern Coach Junior Molden that his team was rated 11th out of the 16 teams and picked to lose its first-round game of the 2022 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament by a certain Lexington media outlet.
While some might see a downside to the Warriors’ 2-5 record against teams in this year’s tournament, those setbacks were lessons, not losses, Molden said.
“We went and played people and we weren’t worried about our win-loss record,” Molden explained.
Molden’s Warriors proved they learned their lessons well in a 67-56 win over highly regarded McCracken County on Wednesday night in Rupp Arena.
“We believe in ourselves. I know nobody out here gave us a chance,” Molden said. “That’s the same thing we were dealing with in our regional tournament. We believe in our team. We’re ‘we greater than me’ and y’all got to see what they get to see down in Southwestern (Pulaski County).”
Tied 29-29 after a half that saw four ties and five lead changes, Southwestern seized the momentum in the third quarter thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Kinsley Molden and two two sensational plays by Payton Acey.
Acey got fouled on her left-handed runner in the lane to put the Warriors up 43-36 with 2:01 left in the period. Though she missed the ensuing foul shot, Makayla Noritis retrieved the offensive rebound.
Two passes and four seconds later, Acey had the ball back at the top of the key, nailed a three-pointer and got fouled again. This time, she made the free throw and her personal six-point run gave Southwestern a 47-36 lead. It got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
“That was probably one of the biggest moments,” Molden said. “Payton, sometimes she shoots shots that I’m like, ‘Oh no, no, no.’ And then when that one went in I was like, ‘Yep, I drew that one up just exactly like that — four-point play!’”
Molden noted Acey had been playing well from the outset. She made the Warriors’ first two baskets, including a three-pointer, and Southwestern made seven of its first 10 shots. Playing for the second year in a row at Rupp Arena, Acey agreed with a reporter that the basket did seem huge to their dead-eye shooters.
“It felt like it was really big, and I felt like my teammates felt the same thing. And they can shoot the ball,” she said.
Southwestern made 10 of its 20 three-pointers. At the same time, the Warriors’ length — Acey is 6-foot-1, Noritis, 5-11, and Kaylee Young is 5-10 — made things difficult inside for McCracken. The Warriors blocked nine shots and held the Mustangs to 32.8 percent shooting from the field.
McCracken standout junior forward Destiny Thomas led the Mustangs with 22 points, but on a whopping 20 shots. Caroline Sivills added 11 and Claire Johnson scored 10 for McCracken.
Acey led four players in double figures with 16 points. Kinsley and Noritis each had 15 and Ayden Smiddy added 11. Noritis, a senior, made all five of her field goal attempts and had three blocks in helping Acey and Young clog up McCracken’s driving lanes.
“I knew I had to do that for my team,” Noritis said.
This was McCracken County’s (31-2) first trip to the Sweet 16. The nine-year-old school replaced three county schools that combined made only one trip to state 42 years ago.
“They made shots and we couldn’t buy some shots,” McCracken Coach Scott Sivills said. “We’d given up 37 points a game to every team we played all year, and we gave up 67 tonight. For us, that’s unacceptable for our program. But I’m very proud of our team. This loss does not show how our team was all year long.”
Southwestern (26-7) will face Franklin County in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Friday.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 7:13 AM.
