‘We just fight.’ Lexington Catholic girls earn first district championship in 15 years.

Lexington Catholic girls’ basketball hadn’t won a district championship since 2008.

That is, until now. On Friday night, the Knights defeated Tates Creek 54-39 to earn their first district tournament title in 15 years.

“Tates Creek’s a good team, and they’re playing really well right now,” Lexington Catholic head coach Lee Tegt said of the home-court win. “... And I said, ‘Before we go out there, enjoy playing with each other. Enjoy this opportunity because you will play so much better.’ ... We didn’t stop fighting the whole 32 minutes. That’s the biggest thing I’m most proud of for them. And we’ve done that all year. That’s kind of been our M.O., is just we just fight. We just fight.”

Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek both move on to next week’s 11th Region Tournament. The Knights will play their first-round game at home as a result of winning the 43rd District title. As district runner-up, the Commodores will go on the road.

After one quarter Friday night, the score was tied at 14, but LexCath (17-10) stood united.

“I just loved how we played,” said senior Katherine Truitt, who was named tournament MVP. “When things got close, we just stayed together as a team and made sure we did well.”

Truitt led all players in scoring with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. She was the only player on either team to score more than 10 points. She finished with a double-double, also grabbing 10 rebounds.

Nine of her points came from the free-throw line. In preparation for the district finals, Tegt asked every player on his team to shoot 30 free throws before they left school Friday.

As a team, Lexington Catholic made 15 of 26 free-throw attempts. Truitt alone visited the line 11 times.

LexCath’s Lydia Kennedy led all players with 13 rebounds.

Miracle Morbley and Jazlene Potter each contributed 10 points for the Commodores (17-13).

The difference, ultimately, was the Knights’ defensive effort. Lexington Catholic plays a fast and aggressive style that carried the team to its drought-ending achievement.

According to Tegt, it’s about maintaining the right attitude.

“Number one thing we have to continue to do in the postseason,” Tegt said. “It’s a pure mental game from here on out. Every team knows what we’re doing. We know what other teams are doing. There will be a few wrinkles made by everyone. But it’s mentality at this point. It’s who’s going to keep their head about them when everything else is going crazy, and who’s going to enjoy the experience. The team that plays like that is going to win.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 8:13 AM.