Two of 11th Region’s best will first battle for 43rd District girls crown

Two of the top teams in the 11th Region will square off for the 43rd District girls basketball tournament title Friday.

Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose .656 RPI is slightly ahead of 42nd District frontrunner Frederick Douglass for the best in the region, sealed its first berth to the finals since 2020 with a win over Tates Creek on Tuesday.

Dunbar (22-4) opened its season Dec. 1 with a 71-46 loss to Douglass, which is unbeaten against 11th Region teams. The Bulldogs’ only other loss in 17 region games this season was to Lafayette on Jan. 13, a 43-41 setback decided by Addi Combs’ inbounds-pass steal, bucket and converted free throw with just one second on the clock.

“I’ve prepared my girls,” Dunbar head coach Erik Daniels said. “They’re ready to play. Since that loss, my girls have had a chip on their shoulder, and they’ve been playing well.”

Fittingly, it’s Lafayette — the tournament host — whom Dunbar will meet in the district finals. The Generals (21-9) narrowly punched their ticket Wednesday night with a 45-43 win over Lexington Christian Academy

LCA, the only other team in the region that entered Wednesday with 20 wins, was vying for its first win against the Generals since Feb. 23, 2010. The Eagles (20-10) have lost 41 straight games to their district rival.

Lafayette over that same span has won the 43rd District tournament eight times, most recently last year. It is the last program from the district to make the girls Sweet Sixteen; the Generals advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2014.

“Every year it’s the same amount of pressure,” said Allison Denton, the head coach at Lafayette since 2001. “You don’t know what’s gonna happen. You don’t know who’s gonna miss shots, who’s gonna make timely shots, who’s gonna remember where they’re supposed to be.”

Perhaps no shot was more timely for Lafayette than its last attempt by Anna Clay Denton, Allison’s daughter. Anna Clay from under the basket corralled an offensive rebound off a teammate’s miss in transition, then dribbled the ball out to just inside the 3-point line and weaved back into the paint, where she hoisted a running hook shot with 1:33 remaining in the game.

It briefly bounced on the rim before falling through, extending Lafayette’s lead to 44-40.

“That was a prayer,” Anna Clay said with a laugh.

Allison concurred. “Thank you Jesus, ’cause I was screaming, ‘No, what are you doing?’ That was not ever drawn up.”

Anna Clay added a free throw with 48 seconds left to push Lafayette’s lead back out to two after LCA scored its final bucket, a 3-pointer from Piper Graham, with just over a minute left.

A go-ahead 3-point attempt by LCA’s Somer Du Toit fell short with 20 seconds to play, but Lafayette’s Skylar Davis soon after couldn’t connect on two free throws that could have made the waning seconds less harrowing. The Eagles had the ball with 10.8 seconds left and a chance to tie or win.

In the ensuing timeouts, one by each team, the Generals debated whether to switch their defense.

“Mom wanted to change it, and I’m like, ‘No it’s working, let’s keep doing this,’” Anna Clay said. “It just adds more momentum for us when we know we don’t have to keep changing stuff. That last timeout was very hectic, but we all were like, ‘We’ve got it as long as we believe and trust each other.’”

The younger Denton made the right call: After Graham swiftly handed the ball off to teammate Jentry Bertram for a possible return pass into the corner, where Graham had drifted, Lafayette kept the ball from getting back into the hands of LCA’s best scorer. Bertram drove into the lane and with 2 seconds left got off a free-throw line jumper that drew back iron.

“I said, ‘You better not give up a 3,’ and we guarded the people we needed to guard, and we got the rebound,” Allison said. “I’ve gotta credit (Anna Clay) because she’s a true floor general and a good coach on the floor, so I trust her to make the changes when we need it.

“And it makes me sleep at night ‘cause it’s on her, she decided it.”

Combs led Lafayette with 12 points while Davis barely trailed with 10 in addition to a game-high nine rebounds. E’maria Owens had nine points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter that gave Lafayette its first lead of the second half.

Graham had a game-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Bertram scored 13 for the Eagles.

Paul Laurence Dunbar 63, Tates Creek 35: A suffocating first half allowed Dunbar to create a cushion that gave way to a rout in the other 43rd District semifinal Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs scored 36 points off 35 Tates Creek turnovers. The Commodores (13-17) attempted just 12 shots in the first half, making three; Dunbar put up 35 shots in the first half, connecting on 10 to build a 26-10 halftime lead.

Kaleigh Potts, a junior who was Tates Creek’s second leading scorer last season, had 19 points, five rebounds and four steals against her former club. Kyah Curtsinger nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine steals. Layla Flynn was within earshot of a triple-double, ending with 10 points, nine boards and nine assists.

Tates Creek on Monday night defeated Lexington Catholic 53-37 in the tournament’s only first-round game. Briana Joy, a senior, had 20 points to lead the Commodores.

High school sports writer Jared Peck contributed to this report.

Girls 43rd District Tournament

At Lafayette High School.

Monday’s first round: Tates Creek 53, Lexington Catholic 37.

Tuesday’s semifinals: Paul Laurence Dunbar 63, Tates Creek 35.

Wednesday’s semifinals: Lafayette 45, Lexington Christian 43.

Friday’s final: Paul Laurence Dunbar (22-4) vs. Lafayette (21-9), 6 p.m.