Softball players add grit to Lafayette’s quest for another district hoops title
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- Lafayette softball standouts Denton and Combs help drive hoops team.
- Generals overcame early doubts and roster losses to post a 13-3 mark and 5-1 district.
- Combs’ late inbounds deflection sealed a win; Denton reached 500 career assists.
Lafayette coach Allison Tate Denton entered this girls high school basketball season with a lot of unknowns.
She returned two starters, but both — senior Anna Clay Denton (her daughter) and junior Addi Combs — moonlight as basketball players. Their primary sport is softball where Anna Clay is an Evansville commit and Combs has accepted an offer from Kentucky.
The Generals graduated five seniors, including their top three scorers, from last season’s 43rd District champions.
“I didn’t know if we were going to win a game,” Coach Denton said. “And I mean that with my whole heart. I didn’t know what we were going to look like.”
With just over a month left in the regular season, Lafayette looks like a district title contender again with a 13-3 record overall and a 5-1 mark in district play that included Monday’s 45-37 win at Lexington Christian and a stunning rally from a 14-point third quarter deficit at home against Paul Laurence Dunbar on Jan. 13.
How stunning? Lafayette trailed by four points with 11 seconds to go.
Anna Clay Denton nailed a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 41-40 with five seconds left. After a timeout, Combs deflected Dunbar’s inbounds pass to herself under the basket and laid it in for the lead and a foul with two ticks on the clock. She made the free throw for a 43-41 win.
Combs wasn’t sure how to explain it.
“Prayers? And just never backing down. Just locking in, thankfully,” she said.
The result could make the Generals the top seed in the district tournament if both they and Dunbar win out and the tiebreaker goes Lafayette’s way. Only the return games against Lexington Catholic and LCA remain on the Generals’ schedule. Dunbar has five district games left.
“It was huge,” Anna Clay Denton said. “I think we woke up (the next day) still on an adrenaline high.”
Last Thursday, Denton notched the 500th assist of her basketball career in a 54-46 win over Tates Creek.
Combs and Denton each averaged a little more than seven points per game last season. They lead the Generals with 12.5 and 10.5 points per game, respectively, this year.
Denton plays shortstop on the softball field and led Lafayette with 40 runs scored and had a .400 batting average.
Combs plays the outfield and has a rifle for a right arm that base runners fear. She hit .407 and had a team-high 23 stolen bases to go with 34 RBI and eight home runs.
Against LCA on Monday, Denton led the Generals with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Combs scored 10 points with five rebounds and three blocks. Freshman E’Maria Owens chipped 13 points.
Like in the Dunbar game, Lafayette had to rally against LCA. The Generals trailed 13-4 after the first quarter. They showed their grit again in taking a 23-21 lead on a Combs tip-in just before the halftime horn. Lafayette gradually extended its advantage to 42-31 midway through the fourth quarter and closed out their 37th consecutive victory over the Eagles, a streak that dates to 2010.
Piper Graham led LCA (14-5, 1-2) with 22 points, including six 3-pointers.
“We’re very thankful. We’re working very hard,” Coach Denton said. “We don’t know how we’re going to do until we get out on the floor, because as a team, we’re very young together, and they’re learning to play together.”
Looking back on their preseason struggles, Anna Clay Denton admitted there were times she wondered how much she really wanted to finish out her basketball career. She’s glad she stuck with it.
“It’s actually really fun,” she said. “I know that it’s my last time playing, so I’m just going to go and have fun with my teammates. ... It’s been great to see how far everyone’s come. It’s great to see how much work everybody’s put in, and everybody’s gotten a lot better.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 12:37 AM.
