Top five: The best girls’ basketball teams in the 11th Region for the 2018-19 season
No team in the 11th Region came close to slowing down Scott County last season. It averaged nearly 80 points per game and outscored the next-closest 11th Region team — Lafayette — by more than 700 points.
The Cardinals were 15-0 against region competition and 31-3 overall. Scott County is expected again to handle the 11th Region — no other team received a first-place vote among ballots returned to the Herald-Leader in a preseason survey of the region’s coaches — and contend for a state championship.
“I think we have a chance. There’s a lot of things that go into a season, though,” said Scott County Coach Steve Helton. “We’ve gotta stay healthy and we’ve gotta develop some depth cause we’re gonna have one of those nights where we get in foul trouble early, and also, defensively right now we’re behind where I’d like to see us. But we can score.”
One of the Cardinals’ losses last season was their opener in the girls’ Sweet Sixteen: A unit that shot 45.9 percent from the floor as a team was held to 32.7 percent shooting in a 60-45 loss to Manual, itself still riding high from an upset of Sacred Heart five days earlier in the 7th Region finals.
That was one of two games last season — the other a 70-33 loss in Ohio — in which Scott County “just couldn’t throw it in the ocean.”
“And we paid the price on it,” Helton said.
Three of last season’s starters — Morgan DeFoor, Maaliya Owens and Juliette Smith — are back along with junior Malea Williams, a 6-foot-2 standout who over the summer picked up several Division I college offers.
DeFoor, also a junior, has offers from Morehead State and Tennessee-Martin. Owens, a senior who’s signed with Tennessee Tech, averaged 15.6 points per game last season, just a tick behind leading scorer Peyton Riddle (now at Eckerd College). Smith has started at point guard for the program since she was an eighth-grader.
“She’s the quiet assassin,” Helton said of Smith, a senior. “She’s not the flashy one but she’s the one that leads this team. ... I trust her to run the show.”
Kenady Tompkins, a 6-foot sophomore, rounds out a starting five with a strong blend of experience and athletic versatility. Claiming a third 11th Region title and seventh overall is well within reason. Winning the program’s second state title?
“Expectations are high,” Helton said. “I’d rather be expected than the underdog role. We have high expectations of our program and we’re just gonna let it fly this year.”
The Cardinals won’t have to fly far if they advance beyond the region. The girls’ Sweet Sixteen for the first time in its history will be played in Rupp Arena.
“It would be a great, great experience for these kids to get to play in Rupp,” Helton said. “ ... Kids growing up, they talk about Rupp Arena and talk about playing at UK.”
The next four
Last season’s record in parentheses
2. Franklin County (20-15): The Flyers had won three straight 11th Region titles before Scott County knocked them off in last year’s finals. Brooklynn Miles, an exciting sophomore with multiple Division I schools recruiting her, is back after sitting out last season.
3. Paul Laurence Dunbar (22-10): Miss Basketball challenger Mashayla Cecil is now at EKU but Dunbar is expected to be the top team in the city once more, and possibly for the next few years since several freshmen are expected to play big roles in 2018-19.
4. Woodford County (18-15): Three seniors graduated but they took an average of only seven points with them away from the Yellow Jackets, who will look to make a deeper run after back-to-back exits in round one of the region tournament.
5. Henry Clay (19-12): The Blue Devils would be favored in several districts around the state but happen to reside in Scott County’s. They’ll also rely on several younger players, but senior Kiya Thompson (13.4 ppg last season) will lead their effort.
This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 11:47 AM.