‘We’re not gonna back down.’ McCracken County reaches finals showdown with Sacred Heart.
A battle for western Kentucky bragging rights in Lexington, fittingly, went to the fillies.
McCracken County defeated Henderson County 57-40 on Saturday afternoon to reach the championship game of the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
The Mustangs (35-2) outpaced their rivals from the jump. They opened on a 9-0 run and led 13-3 after a quarter of play. A 26-12 halftime lead swelled to 28 by the end of the third quarter. Henderson County cut into the chasm with a 9-0 run to open the fourth, but the margin proved too wide for it to overcome despite a 22-13 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
Claire Johnson, who scored McCracken’s first seven points, finished with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting. She was one of three Mustangs to finish with five rebounds, and she also had three steals.
“I wasn’t really going into the game wanting to score,” Johnson said. “I don’t think any of our girls have played selfish or are looking to play selfish. We’re just here to win it, and it just so happened to be in my hands tonight.”
Destiny Thomas, a Miss Basketball finalist who has signed with Murray State, ended with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals — two of them amid the third-quarter stretch where McCracken lapped the Colonels.
“We’re just really excited to be here,” Thomas said. “We’re gonna put all our hard work into show, and tonight is the night to let it all show.”
The Mustangs were to play Sacred Heart Academy, a 57-53 winner over George Rogers Clark earlier in the day, on Saturday. The programs have never officially met on the basketball court, but McCracken County prior to this season traveled to play the two-time defending state champs in a scrimmage. Mustangs Coach Scott Sivills said his team lost that game by three or four points and didn’t shoot well after making the three-and-a-half hour trip to Louisville.
He called Saturday night’s opportunity a “full-circle moment.”
“They know what to do,” Sivills said. “Keep it simple and fight for 32 minutes. Plain and simple. We came here to win this thing, and we’re capable of doing it. We’re not gonna back down.”
For Henderson County, the result was an unfortunate bookend to a season that started with an 85-70 loss to the same Mustangs. The Colonels won 28 of their 31 games in between, swept their 2nd Region sisters and pushed longtime head coach Jeff Haile past the 800-win mark. Haile, who was just 26 years old when he took the reins at his alma mater in 1986, is second among all KHSAA girls’ basketball coaches in victories. His 37 seasons coached also rank second in state history.
Haile hasn’t announced retirement plans but said he’s weighed the decision after each of the last 10 or so campaigns. The end of this one sees four seniors graduate who’ve played for him since they were in middle school. Among them was Jarie Thomas, who led the Colonels with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Before the 2023 campaign got underway, Henderson County lost Phil Gibson, a longtime fixture on its boys’ and girls’ basketball benches, to cancer. The defensive principles he instilled were frequently cited by players and Haile during interviews throughout the week.
“We fought to the final buzzer like we have all season,” Thomas said. “I’m thankful for Coach Haile and Coach Gibson, and everything they taught us all. I’m really gonna miss playing with these girls. I love them all so much.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 4:25 PM.