Top-rated Sacred Heart overwhelms Anderson County in decisive third quarter at 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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A devastating 15-2 run by Sacred Heart in the third quarter broke open the defending state champion’s game against Anderson County on Thursday night in the first round of the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament.
Freshman ZaKiyah Johnson scored a team-high 16 points to go with sophomore Reagan Bender’s 13 as the Valkyries defeated Anderson County 48-38 in a rematch between programs who last faced each other in the 2021 state semifinals.
Sacred Heart made two key adjustments at halftime after Anderson erased a nine-point first quarter deficit thanks to the sharp shooting of senior Paige Serafini, whose 16 first-half points kept Anderson in the game. The Bearcats briefly took the lead late in the second quarter and trailed by just one point, 20-19, at the break.
“We switched Triniti (Ralston) onto (Serafini) because she was killing us in the first half,” Sacred Heart Coach Donna Moir said. “In the third quarter, our press really kind of bothered them a little bit and we kind of got going a little bit.”
Serafini was held to two points in the second half. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart’s full-court press began to make Anderson County’s players uncomfortable and speed up the game.
After a pair of Amiya Jenkins free throws gave Anderson County it’s last lead at 25-24 with 3:52 left in the third quarter, the Valkyries reeled off their 15-2 run that included a 9-0 spurt to close out the period. All five Sacred Heart starters scored during that stretch, capped by a Ralston three-pointer that put Sacred Heart up 39-27 with 15 seconds left in the third.
“The second half, that’s when we kind of started sharing the ball, and that’s when we went on our run,” Bender said..
Sacred Heart’s Johnson, their leading scorer this season averaging 17.8 points per game, helped the Valkyries shrug off a sluggish start and take a 12-3 lead after one quarter of play. Johnson had 10 of those points, revealing what many in the state already know — she’s the real deal.
“I think about it every day, just being a freshman and (playing for) a state title is one of my biggest accomplishments, like, in life,” Johnson said. “Just to be able to be a part of this team and be in a state championship so early, it’s just really big.”
Anderson County’s Jenkins came into the tournament as the field’s top scorer at 20.8 points per game, but she was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 12 points. Sacred Heart keyed on keeping in front of the University of Kentucky signee.
“When you slow her down, that kind of slows their team down and they lose the pace of her game,” Johnson said.
Anderson County (30-5) overcame a horrible first quarter to take the lead twice, but couldn’t overcome 23 turnovers and making only 34.3 percent of its shots.
“Hats off to Sacred Heart. They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason,” Anderson County Coach Clay Birdwhistell said. “We just could never get in any kind of rhythm. … I thought our kids battled and played their guts out and that’s just the way it goes.”
The loss closes out the high school careers of starting seniors Jenkins, Serafini and Jacie Chesser along with reserves Payton Baum and Kinley Lucas. Together, they won three straight 8th Region titles.
“It was the best,” Jenkins said of her career at Anderson. “They’re like a group of sisters to me. I was just excited that it was these girls that I could come here and do this with.”
No. 1 Sacred Heart (33-3) was scheduled to face No. 2 Clark County in Friday’s quarterfinals.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 7:45 AM.
