GRC keeps it close, but Sacred Heart’s hunt for another three-peat is still on track
Sacred Heart is the only active Kentucky girls’ high school basketball program with a three-peat in state titles. Following Saturday morning’s 57-53 victory over George Rogers Clark in the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16, the Valkyries earned an opportunity to do it again.
“I’m just glad that we’re playing,” Sacred Heart head coach Donna Moir said. “I don’t really think about all those kind of records. I think that’s what we try to do, is just kind of stay in the moment. But you know, it will be special to go out and represent Sacred Heart (on Saturday night). And get a three-peat, that’ll be something really special for us.”
Moir also led the Valkyries to a three-peat from 2002-04. Prior to Laurel County’s split into North Laurel and South Laurel in 1992, that program was the first to earn a three-peat (1977-79).
The Valkyries are chasing their seventh state title. Last year they broke a tie held they held with Ashland Blazer, Butler and Laurel County to become the all-time leader with their sixth.
Last season, Sacred Heart reached the semifinals with a 59-40 defeat of George Rogers Clark.
To reach this season’s championship match, Sacred Heart had to face the Cardinals again. This time, just over a month after narrowly defeating GRC 54-53 in Winchester on Feb. 7.
“Sacred Heart, they’re a tremendous team,” George Rogers Clark head coach Robbie Graham said. “We knew that going in, but give credit to our girls. We’re a tremendous team as well. We weren’t going to back down, we weren’t going to be in awe of that jersey. We were gonna give them everything we had for 32 minutes, and I felt like we did that.”
The Cardinals led for more than 15 minutes against the Valkyries, in a thrashing effort that began with George Rogers Clark opening the first quarter by connecting all four of its attempts from beyond the arc. They also limited all Sacred Heart players — apart from star sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson, who had 12 — to three points or less in the first half.
Moir knew the Cardinals would leave everything on the floor, but the Valkyries are no strangers to overcoming quality challengers.
Second-leading scorer Reagan Bender, who averages 14.9 points per game, was held scoreless in the first two periods. But she made all the difference in the second half, dropping 21 points in the final 15 minutes on 6-for-10 from the field, including 3 of 5 from three and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Bender cites her teammates’ encouragement as reason for her second-half surge.
“They told me that I need to be a complete player,” Bender said. “And not just focus on being one-dimensional, you know, with scoring. So I came out and had some good cuts, and my teammates found me. So that’s how I got going.”
Johnson led all scorers with 22 points. She also grabbed 10 boards for a double-double.
It’s a quick turnaround before a Saturday night finals, but they’ve been here before. They’re ready.
“We’ve done in the past two years,” Valkyries guard Claire Russell said. “So I mean, we know what we need to do. We’ll go get some rest and I think we’ll all come back with the same heart and hustle that we played this previous game with.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 3:10 PM.
