Taylor Co.’s Kennedy Deener caps award-winning day with state quarterfinals win

Kennedy Deener woke up Friday morning as this season’s Kentucky’s Gatorade player of the year. She’ll go to bed as a state semifinalist.

With the game tied at 34 and under four minutes left to play, Deener did what she’s done for most of the season: throw daggers into the heart of Taylor County opponents.

In the span of 51 seconds, Deener hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the Cardinals up six — their first multi-possession lead of the game — and from there hit four free throws to score the team’s final 10 in points in a 44-36 victory over Notre Dame Friday at Rupp Arena.

Those shots — and a stifling defensive effort down the stretch — propelled Taylor County into the semifinals of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

The Cardinals (29-6) allowed just four points in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame (25-8) was 2-for-11 from the floor in the frame, its last bucket coming on a layup with 2:17 to play. Two of the Pandas’ 17 turnovers occurred in the final 1:17.

Notre Dame connected for a state-tournament record 17 3-pointers in its first round win over Pikeville on Wednesday. The Pandas attempted only 22 on Friday, making four. Emma Holtzapfel was responsible for three of those; she hit the team’s last one late in the third quarter. She led the Pandas with 13 points.

“We wanted to put some pressure on them defensively and run them off the 3-point line,” Taylor County coach Donnie Swiney said. “ … They hit 17 the other day, you probably don’t want ’em to do that again. It doesn’t take a mental heavyweight to figure that one out.”

Kennedy Deener got it going down the stretch

The Gatorade program recognizes its state players of the year irrespective of their grade level. Deener won’t be eligible to be nominated for Miss Basketball until she’s a senior in 2029.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Deener said of her Gatorade recognition. “They make plays for me. I make plays for them. It’s really just a team accomplishment.”

Deener led Taylor County with 19 points but was 4-for-12 from the floor entering the final period. She also didn’t attempt a free throw until there were 18 seconds left, which has become something of a theme in the postseason. She earned 12 trips to the line in the Cardinals’ first-round win over West Jessamine (making nine), but attempted only six in three 5th Region tournament games.

The freshman averaged almost nine attempts per game throughout the season but is down to 4.4 attempts in the last week.

“People are adjusting to how they guard me,” Deener said. “I’m not really getting to the rim as much so I don’t draw as many fouls. They let us play more physically here, which is fine. That allows me to distribute to the rest of my teammates and allows me to get some shots up from behind the 3-point line. It works out either way.”

Avery Raikes was a frequent beneficiary of the heightened defensive pressure on Deener. The junior scored 14 points, including the first five in the fourth quarter to put Taylor County ahead 34-32. She finished two points shy of matching her season high, managed three times throughout the season.

“I just knew that I had to play my hardest,” Raikes said. “Deener’s a heck of a ball player, but they were trapping Deener and I knew I had to step up and make some shots.”

Raikes drew a team-high six fouls and chipped in two assists and two rebounds.

“(She’s) always making something happen for our team,” Deener said. “Even if it’s not here physically on our stat (sheet), in numbers, she’s always out there contributing. We could not do this without her.”

Taylor County making history

Taylor County is in the midst of just its second appearance in the modern history of girls basketball in Kentucky; the first was last year. The Cardinals also played in a state tournament in 1929, one of the few in KHSAA history that was contested under a class system, which then funneled up to an overall championship game. They played in the semifinals of an eight-team Class A tournament, falling to eventual overall champion Ashland.

The KHSAA did not sanction a girls basketball state tournament from 1933 to 1974. When it resumed doing so in 1975, the format mirrored the longstanding format of the boys event and has continued to do so.

Notre Dame made its first appearance since 2013, when it finished runner-up to a Marion County team led by Makayla Epps, who’s been courtside this week working as part of the KHSAA’s radio broadcast team.

“They made the two biggest 3s of the game,” Notre Dame coach George Stoll said. “ … It’s been a really fun year. Only one team gets to end this season on a win, and, unfortunately, it wasn’t us.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 5:20 PM.