Lafayette, Frederick Douglass capture Lexington’s girls basketball district titles
A former player walked up to Allison Denton, holding a toddler in her hands, after Lafayette’s victory in the 43rd District Tournament finals at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. They shared a hug and Denton kissed the youngster on his cheek.
Not many coaches get to experience something like that, and there are even fewer in the history of Lexington hoops. Denton, who’s coached Lafayette’s girls basketball team since 2001, has had the right mix of players, staff, and institutional support to build the kind of program that people want to come back and cheer for.
“I’ve got players who are married and have children in high school,” Denton said after the Generals’ 49-33 win over Lexington Christian Academy on Friday night. “It’s wild.”
The Generals gave all who came to see them plenty to cheer about, especially headed into the second half. A 10-8 first-quarter lead flipped to a 12-10 deficit early in the second quarter and stayed that way for some time. Lafayette broke a lengthy drought with 2:35 left in the half on a put-back by Belle Combs, who then scored again on the Generals’ next two possessions.
Belle’s sister Addison stole the ball and converted at the rim soon after that, and Abbey Popham closed the quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner. Lafayette (25-4) scored the first five points in the third quarter on its way to a 28-16 advantage in the second half.
Lafayette improved to 10-0 against district foes this season and reclaimed the 43rd after a two-year absence from its throne.
“It feels amazing,” said Belle Combs, who took MVP honors after posting 17 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the title bout. In a postgame interview she brought up last year’s finals, which ended in a three-point loss to Tates Creek. “I was heartbroken, but us coming back and fighting was amazing. I will never forget this moment at all.”
Anna Clay Denton, Allison’s daughter, was on Lafayette’s last district titlist in 2022, but has a much larger role on this edition. She’s more of a softball player — ironically, her mother began her career at Lafayette as the school’s softball coach — but in the last couple years has become more confident on the court.
The junior ended with seven assists, four steals and five points in the victory.
Both Lafayette and LCA (25-7) earned spots in the 11th Region Tournament. Neither were projected to go very far — champions from the 41st (Franklin County), 42nd (Frederick Douglass) and 44th (Madison Central) were all ranked in the top 15 of the final statewide media poll — but all bets are off in the postseason.
“I’ve seen crazy things happen,” Allison Denton said. “I’ve talked to them about the Lafayette boys team in 2001. They had a losing record and then all of a sudden, they won the state tournament. You can’t ever count anyone out come tournament time.”
▪ Lafayette defeated visiting Henry Clay 58-34 in its 11th Region Tournament opener on Monday night to earn a shot at Madison Central in Thursday’s semifinals at Paul Laurence Dunbar. Madison Central advanced Monday with a 70-55 win over Great Crossing.
Lexington Christian was eliminated from the 11th Region Tournament on Monday night, falling 51-23 at Franklin County. In Thursday’s semis, the Flyers will meet Frederick Douglass, an 88-13 winner over Berea on Monday.
Douglass rolls to third straight 42nd District title
Eighth grader Tamia Waide led No. 12 Frederick Douglass with 25 points and the Broncos ran away to a 78-44 victory over Henry Clay to capture their third straight 42nd District Tournament championship at Scott County High School’s Billy Hicks Gymnasium on Friday.
Douglass (22-7) dominated its district rivals this year, going 6-0 against them in the regular season and putting mercy rule, running clock margins on both Sayre in Tuesday’s district semifinals and Henry Clay in Friday’s finals.
“Our energy helped us the whole game,” Waide said. “It came from MK (point guard Mikalee Bennett), from the bench, everybody helped.”
The Blue Devils (10-18) battled in the early going and led 8-6 late in the first quarter. But Douglass responded with a 12-0 run fueled by a block by Jaelee Knowles and steals by Peighton Okorley, Reagan Gregonis and Knowles over the next three minutes. In all, Douglass grabbed 13 steals and benefited from 24 Henry Clay turnovers. Okorley and Gregonis had four steals each.
Douglass stretched the lead to 43-19 by halftime and pushed the margin to as many as 38 points early in the fourth quarter.
Knowles finished with 12 points and Miami King added 11 off the bench for the Broncos. The Blue Devils were led by Ariyana Sutton with 14 points and Charlianne Robinson with nine.
Waide expressed confidence in the Broncos’ chances going forward.
“I feel like we do so well as a team, and I’m so proud of us,” she said. “We’re just building our way up to go to state.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 10:59 AM.
