Douglass rolls, Dunbar pulls away late as girls 11th Region top seeds advance
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Douglass used defense and turnovers to dominate Lafayette and secure a quarterfinal win.
- Dunbar rallied late behind Layla Flynn to fend off Scott County and reach semifinals.
- Semifinals pair Douglass vs. Madison Southern and Dunbar vs. Franklin County Friday.
Frederick Douglass’ girls basketball team seems to be fully out of its late-season funk just in time to defend its 11th Region crown.
The No. 8 Broncos proved it Monday with a 60-29 shellacking of Lafayette in the 11th Region Tournament quarterfinals at Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena in Richmond.
“We still made some careless passes trying to make some home run plays at times, but the little things, the stuff that we worked on, I feel like we took care of today,” Douglass coach Daryl Moberly said.
Douglass played the late-night 9:15 p.m. tip of the first day of the tourney. Madison Southern looked solid in taking out Western Hills, 61-50, in Monday’s opener.
On Tuesday, Paul Laurence Dunbar struggled early but pulled away to a 62-51 win over Scott County in the fourth quarter.
“Oh man, that was a tough one,” Dunbar coach Erik Daniels told Glicod.com’s Ravi Moss during their post-game interview. “I got to sweating under this quarter-zip, today. I’m glad we pulled it out. Our girls stuck with it.”
Franklin County had no trouble ousting Berea, 61-30, in Tuesday’s late game.
With EKU’s basketball teams now away at their conference tournaments, Friday’s semifinals tip-offs assume more normal start times for a high school doubleheader with Douglass (22-7) and Southern (19-14) starting at 6:15 p.m., and Dunbar (24-4) and Franklin County (13-16) scheduled for 8:15 p.m. All are their respective district’s champions.
Madison Southern coach Juan Byars knows his team has a big challenge taking down the only region team ranked in the final Kentucky Media Elite 16 poll of the season.
“They are the cream of the crop in the region. There’s no doubt,” Byars said. “We’re going to have to take care of the basketball, and we’re going to have to stay in attack mode.”
Madison Southern lost 58-30 at home to Douglass on Jan. 8, part of a 8-10 stretch that included losses to some of the top teams in the state. They’ve gone 11-4 since with five wins in a row, including a 77-17 win over Berea in the 44th District championship game.
“We’re finally starting to come together. We’ve got such a young team, I don’t even think they really know what they did tonight,” Byars said. “But we were able to move the ball, get a couple shots open, and our sophomore group grew up tonight. … We’re just a totally different team than we were when we last played (Douglass).
Sophomore Cami Duerson led the Eagles with 26 points against Western Hills. Senior Laci Sandlin has averaged 15.7 points per game for Madison Southern, but had just two Monday. Unfortunately fellow senior Hadley French has been limited by injuries this season.
“I know they like to play fast, too. We just can’t let them make shots from the outside. That’s the main thing,” Moberly said about Madison Southern.
Dunbar and Franklin County have not faced each other in two seasons, but their common opponents this year do not favor the Flyers. Franklin County lost 58-35 to Lafayette on Feb. 11. Dunbar routed the Generals 82-57 a week later to claim the 43rd District championship.
Girls 11th Region quarterfinals summaries
Madison Southern 61, Western Hills 50: Eagles guard Cami Duerson scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the first half as Madison Southern established a gap that kept the Wolverines in chase mode all night. Duerson also led the Eagles with seven assists.
Lillian Kirk and Adeliah Collier chipped in nine and eight points, respectively. Western Hills played four players in double figures led by Sakota Wilder’s 12 points. Malia Campbell, Bry’e Wolfe and Ava Curtis each had 10.
Frederick Douglass 60, Lafayette 29: The Broncos forced 13 first half turnovers and limited Lafayette 14 first-half points and pulled away to a running-clark margin with 2:46 to play in the third quarter.
Tamia Waide and Jaelee Knowles each scored 12 points for the Broncos. Miami King added 10 and Mikalee “MK” Bennett, nine. E’Maria Owens led Lafayette with eight points.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 62, Scott County 51: Layla Flynn scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 1:24 left in the third quarter that broke the games final tie as the Bulldogs pulled out a win that looked in doubt for a while.
Kyah Curtsinger and Kaleigh Potts added 10 and nine points, respectively. Dymon Purcell paced Scott County with 15 points. Belle Banner added 11 and Gabby Young scored 10.
Franklin County 61, Berea 30: Flyers eighth grader La’Kyiah Taylor led all scorers with 22 points, nearly outscoring the Pirates herself in a game Berea never threatened.
Makiyia Wheeler and Addilyn Taylor added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Avery Plessinger scored 14 points for Berea.
Girls 11th Region Tournament
At Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena, Richmond.
Tickets: $10. Streaming: Glicod.com.
FRIDAY’S SEMIFINALS
6:15 p.m.: Madison Southern vs. Douglass
8:15 p.m.: Dunbar vs. Franklin County.
SUNDAY’S FINAL
7 p.m.: Championship game.
