Girls’ Sweet 16: Gritty Douglass knocked out by Assumption’s clutch threes late
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Assumption edged Douglass 32-30 with Palmer's late 3 in Sweet 16
- Douglass rallied from six down, hit seven 3s, then turned it over late
- Coaches praised effort; Douglass expects key players back next season
In the second week of the Kentucky girls high school basketball season, Frederick Douglass went to Louisville and got its doors blown off by Assumption in 67-35 loss.
Despite that setback and more tough losses later to some of the other best teams in the state, Lexington’s Broncos defended their 11th Region championship and returned to the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena this week, advancing to Friday’s quarterfinals.
No. 2 Assumption awaited No. 8 Douglass for the 11 a.m. tip. Many girls basketball observers expected another blowout.
Douglass did not oblige.
The Broncos rallied from six points down in the third quarter and held the Rockets scoreless for more than eight minutes as freshman Tamia Waide nailed a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers to help put Douglass up 30-24 with 4:21 to play.
But the game plan that kept the Broncos in it all that time ended up biting them in the end as Assumption fought back, cutting their deficit to 30-29 on sophomore Se’Rae Bundrent-Palmer’s first 3-pointer with 1:29 to play.
Palmer had taken one shot all game, way back in the first quarter, and missed.
Clinging to a one-point lead and in a zone defense to prevent drives by Assumption’s Indiana commit, Ashlinn James, Douglass left Palmer wide open again on the right wing.
Palmer made Douglass pay. Her second made field goal of the day from well beyond the college arc put the Rockets up 32-30 with 27 seconds in front of the roars of their section. Douglass could not answer, turning it over after a miss as the clock ran out.
“It started off rocky for me,” Palmer said. “I was like, ‘I gotta, I gotta help my team out. I gotta do something.’ But as soon as I got the pass, I just knew that it was going in. That’s how your mentality has to be when you’re a shooter, or when you’re shooting the shot. You have to know it’s already going in, or else it’s not going to end up good. I couldn’t have done it without my team.”
Assumption coach Caryn Kovatch praised Douglass in her post-game comments.
“We had no business winning that game based on how we played. ... I think that’s the lowest points we’ve scored in a match. But, and it’s a big but, we hit the shot that we needed to hit to win the game. We figured out a way to win. And I am so proud of this team. I’m so proud of their efforts,” Kovatch said. “Frederick Douglass is a great team. They are athletic. They have (Jaelee) Knowles underneath, grabbing every board, so all credit to them. They came ready to win, ready to play.”
Douglass’ zone defense held Assumption’s players below double digits at every position. James led the Rockets with nine points. Palmer had the next most with seven. That was the plan, Moberly said.
“They weren’t knocking down a lot of shots from the outside, so when Palmer hit one, and then she came in and hit that dagger, I felt like they killed us at the end,” Moberly said. “ We wanted to live with them shooting jump shots. And she hit two big ones.”
Douglass looked shaky early. Committing 11 first half turnovers and seeming overmatched by Assumption’s length and athleticism as it fell behind by as many as seven points in the first half. Unfortunately, turnovers down the stretch set up Assumption’s comeback.
But the 3-point shot and Douglass’ own ability to rebound and defend kept the Broncos in it. They hit seven of their 15 3-point tries, two by senior Reagan Gregonis and the other five by Waide for all of her 15 points.
This was Douglass’ third trip to the Girls’ Sweet 16 in the last four years. The Broncos reached the semifinals last season. With a number of key players expected back, including Knowles, the two-time coaches’ 11th Region player of the year, and Waide, Douglass could be right back here next March.
“We had so many people just doubting us and saying we wouldn’t even make it here,” Knowles said. “And we just proved everybody wrong. … Even in games like this, it wasn’t supposed to be a close game. Sticking together helped us push through, come out, show out, and even though it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, I’m proud of my team.”
