Sacred Heart extends long Kentucky win streak despite slow start at George Rogers Clark
Sacred Heart’s players say they don’t feel the weight of the history they’re making.
Never mind the five straight 7th Region crowns or the record four straight of a record eight total Girls’ Sweet 16 state championships for a team ranked No. 1 in the commonwealth in every media poll this year and last.
Never mind that they haven’t lost to a Kentucky team in three calendar years — a streak of 91 games entering Wednesday’s contest at No. 2 George Rogers Clark.
“I’m just like, ‘Hey, it’s a new game. Let’s try to win,” sophomore point guard Almirah “Tootie” Jordan said.
So, when the Valkyries fell behind 9-0 to Clark in the first 90 seconds and still trailed 16-4 just over four minutes into Wednesday’s game at GRC Arena, there was no panic or worry that a slow start could be the beginning to the end of something.
“Nobody was yelling at each other when we got down,” Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir said. “I felt like it was really good that we held our composure. Then we just tried to get it back one basket at a time.”
The Valkyries did just that as Jordan scored 12 of her game-high 28 points in the second quarter and senior LSU signee ZaKiyah Johnson scored 18 of her 26 points in the second half to help Sacred Heart pull away to an 80-68 victory, the 92nd straight over Kentucky opponents and ninth straight over Clark, which has consistently been one of the state’s next best girls programs.
“It’s just kind of staying within ourselves and not panicking, keeping ourselves composed that kind of got us through. It was nothing too serious. I mean, we was down 16-4,” Johnson said with a touch of humor. “But I think because we stayed calm and collected, and we just figured it out together.”
Jordan scored eight straight points for Sacred Heart in the second quarter, including a four-point play on a 3-pointer and foul shot that trimmed Clark’s lead to 22-18 with 6:35 until half. Over the next six minutes, Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jordan gave Sacred Heart a 32-31 lead on a layup with 1:08 left in the period. Two Ciara Byars free throws gave Clark a 33-32 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, the other Valkyries stepped up and contributed to a 13-4 run that included a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Becca Carson, two buckets from senior forward Morgan Frey and layups by senior Caroline Osting, Johnson and Jordan.
Sacred Heart led 55-46 at the end of the third quarter. Clark (17-7) got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Wednesday’s game marked a stark improvement for Clark compared to its 68-42 blowout loss to Sacred Heart in the Louisville Invitational Tournament finals on Feb. 1. Despite two losses to the Valkyries and five losses to out-of-state teams this season, Clark remains one of the state’s most dangerous girls teams and has wins over several other ranked teams — No. 4 Franklin County, No. 6 Assumption (twice), No. 7 Frederick Douglass, No. 9 Henderson County and No. 11 Simon Kenton.
That’s pretty good for a team that lost junior starter Anaya Chestnut to a foot injury and senior starter Khania Jones to a lengthy and unsettling illness early in the season. Four Cardinals scored in double figures led by Kennedy Stamper with 16 points. Ciara Byars scored 14 and Kyleigh Chestnut and Jailenn Green added 13 each.
“We’ve got to clean up some things on our end and just keep getting better,” Clark coach Robbie Graham said. “We’ve been through a lot, no excuses, but we’re finally starting to get pieces together. We’ve got a long way to go, but we have some time to get there.”
Moir shrugs off questions about streaks and history. She and her coaches never talk about those things, she and her players said. After all, Sacred Heart (22-2) has lost any number of games over the last few years, though they’re usually to nationally ranked out-of-state opponents at some showcase somewhere.
Maybe her players knew how many games their Kentucky winning streak was because of some social media posts on Wednesday, but Moir didn’t think so.
“It’s crazy to think of that, but they get locked in and they just go about their business, which makes it really fun to coach, Moir said.
Johnson, Sacred Heart’s most celebrated senior, summed up the Valkyries’ mentality.
“You’re just looking to get better,” Johnson said. “You’re not looking behind.”
