Dunbar and Douglass set for girls 11th Region finals after tough tests in semis
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- Dunbar rallied from seven down, forced turnovers and secured a 58-56 semifinal win.
- Frederick Douglass weathered a Madison Southern rally and held on 43-32 to advance.
- Region title Sunday at EKU sends winner to 2026 state tournament at Rupp Arena.
For only the second time in the last dozen years, two Lexington teams will square off for the girls 11th Region Tournament championship.
No. 8 Frederick Douglass (23-7), the defending champions, withstood a late charge by Madison Southern, but held on for a 43-32 win over the Eagles on Friday in the first semifinal at Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena.
In the nightcap, Paul Laurence Dunbar (25-4) rallied from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit to edge Franklin County 58-56.
The Broncos and Bulldogs faced each other in each team’s season opener on Dec. 1, a 71-46 rout for a Douglass team that returned its 2025 Girls’ Sweet 16 state semifinalists largely intact.
Dunbar coach Erik Daniels believes his team is ready to step up to the challenge when they meet again for the region title at 7 p.m. Sunday back at EKU. The winner earns a trip to next week’s state tournament at Rupp Arena.
“That’s what we’ve been preparing for all season,” Daniels said. “They’re the returning champs and to get to state, we’ve got to go through them. If we want to play in Rupp, we’ve got to take down the reigning champions.”
Defense, rebounding spur Dunbar’s late rally
After leading Franklin County 33-29 at half, a brutally cold-shooting third quarter and four turnovers had Dunbar facing a 48-41 deficit early in the fourth.
The Bulldogs responded with perhaps the best eight minutes of basketball they’ve played all season.
Dunbar went on an 8-0 run in just over two minutes of action fueled by defensive pressure that forced six Franklin County turnovers in that stretch and 12 overall in the period. The fact that Franklin County junior guard Makiyia Wheeler fouled out of the game with 6:05 to play didn’t hurt either. Wheeler, one of the Flyers’ primary ball-handlers, had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
“We all knew it was coming, because our coaches have so much faith in us,” said Dunbar junior Kaleigh Potts, who scored 15 points and made three of her four free throws in the final minute to help seal the win. “We know our defense will create turnovers. And so whenever we got our defense going, it got our offense going.”
Dunbar also got going on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the fourth leading to nine second-chance points during their run to the lead.
After Layla Flynn got her own miss and drove in for a layup to cut Franklin County’s edge to 48-45 with 5:11 to play, she grabbed a steal on the next play and delivered a behind-the-back pass in traffic on the fast break for Kyah Curtsinger’s layup to cut it to 48-47.
Flynn bounced with confidence. Momentum had swung. Curtsinger took the next Franklin County miss coast-to-coast for a layup to put Dunbar back in front 49-48 midway through the fourth quarter. Five Franklin County turnovers over the next two minutes helped Dunbar to a 53-50 lead that they made stand at the free throw line the rest of the way.
Curtsinger, an eighth grader, finished with a team-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds. Flynn notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists and four steals. Eriyaune Daniels scored nine, all on 3-pointers.
“I’m just proud of them right now,” Coach Daniels said. “This is our first time being in this situation, playing in these big moments, and our girls stepped up when they needed to. It’s tough to be out here playing on the college floor, playing in front of all your friends and family when it counts.”
Eighth grader La’Kyiah Taylor scored a game-high 22 points for Franklin County (13-17), including a deep 3-pointer in the third quarter that helped spark the Flyers’ run to the lead. Lynnin Comley added 10 points off the bench.
Douglass withstands Madison Southern’s late surge
Frederick Douglass looked well on its way to its fourth consecutive region finals appearance after Miami King’s layup put the Broncos up 31-15 with 2:16 to play in the third quarter.
Then Madison Southern, with a large fan contingent at its back, mounted a 17-5 run over the next seven minutes to make it a game.
Eagles senior Laci Sandlin scored 14 of her game high 22 points during the rally, including going 8-for-9 at the free throw line as she continually challenged Douglass’ post players. The rally also got a boost from fellow senior Hadley French’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter.
But after Sandlin drove into the lane for a bucket and the fifth foul on the Broncos’ 11th Region player of the year Jaelee Knowles, she missed the free throw that could have made it a one-possession game. Madison Southern trailed 36-32 with 3:14 to play.
The Eagles didn’t score again.
Perhaps the biggest play down the stretch came from Douglass junior forward Peighton Okorley, who shadowed Sandlin as she went to take a hand off from teammate Cami Duerson near midcourt with the Broncos up 39-32 with 1:43 to play.
Okorley took the handoff with her, forcing a tie up that gave Douglass the ball on the alternating possession. The Broncos milked a minute off clock before sealing the victory at the foul line after that.
“That was huge. That was like the turning point,” Douglass senior Reagan Gregonis said. “Without her, we wouldn’t have done it.”
Douglass coach Daryl Moberly lamented his team’s lapses that let the Eagles back into the game, but was pleased with how they responded.
“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean tonight. There was a lid on that basket,” said Moberly, whose team shot 37.2 percent from the field and only made two of 17 3-point tries. “But these other girls stepped up. When Jaelee wasn’t hitting and Tamia wasn’t on it at first, Eiona (Atkins) came in off the bench and gave us great minutes and hit a big shot for us and was locked in defensively. Miami came in and gave us a good run.”
Atkins made one of the Broncos two 3-pointers. King scored all six of her points in the third quarter as Douglass built its biggest lead and had three steals.
Senior point guard Mikalee “MK” Bennett led Douglass with 12 points. Gregonis added nine points and tied Knowles for the team lead with eight rebounds.
“I think we worked well as a team at the end,” Gregonis said. “Although we weren’t playing our best game, I think we still trusted each other and came out with the win.”
Although Sandlin led Madison Southern (19-15) in scoring this season, the Eagles are mostly sophomores and freshmen. Their second- and third- leading scorers, sophomores Duerson and Briana Hensley were held without a basket by the Broncos’ defense.
“We played extremely hard. That first quarter, we took their best shot,” Madison Southern coach Juan Byars said. “Our team was so young and our expectations were so high. I told them coming in that we were the second best team in our region — but I told them, actually, we were the first best team, but we’ve got to go out to prove it.”
Moberly was grateful for the win.
“It was a good, hard-fought game, and that’s what you want. You want it to be tough,” Moberly said. “They competed, but I’m glad we survived. We’ll see them again. They’re a great program.”
Girls 11th Region Tournament
At Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena, Richmond.
Tickets: $10. Streaming: Glicod.com.
SUNDAY’S FINAL
7 p.m.: Championship game.
