They won the 11th Region again. Will this time be different at state tournament?
After a blowout win for Scott County’s second straight 11th Region title, Coach Steve Helton has a little more than a week to prepare his No. 2 Cardinals for a run at the state title.
“Obviously we’ve got to come out — we want to get up and down,” said Helton, in his 19th season with the Cardinals. “We’ve got a week of practice. We’ve got to keep our conditioning. Once the awe of the gym (Rupp Arena) wears off on us, we’ve got to play ball.”
Scott County (33-1) did more than that Tuesday, dispatching Henry Clay 82-42 at Eastern Kentucky’s McBrayer Arena. The win gave the Cardinals their seventh trip to the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet Sixteen.
Last year, Scott County suffered a first-round exit in the state tournament against Manual. The Cardinals are looking to make a much deeper run this time around.
“Last year, we didn’t have the showing that we wanted to, so we came out and we were like ‘we’re going to work harder,’” said Maaliya Owens who was named the region tournament’s most valuable player. “We’re going to prove that day-in and day-out we deserve to be back in that place.”
Tuesday’s easy win belied the trouble the Cardinals could face in the tournament, as they will face more teams like the Franklin County squad they barely vanquished in Sunday’s semifinals. Scott County trailed much of that game against a tenacious Lady Flyers defense and a cold shooting touch that didn’t come around until the second half.
“We’ve got to make shots, because what happened to us Sunday, happened to us last year (against Manual). “The first game at Northern Kentucky, we couldn’t throw it in the ocean and we struggled.”
Tuesday, the Cardinals took command against the Blue Devils in the second period as Henry Clay failed to score for the final 5:16 before half. What was a manageable 28-16 deficit at that time ballooned to 46-16 as the Cardinals scored from all over the court, including a pair of three-pointers from Timothi Williams off the bench. The last one set the halftime score.
Scott County forced 10 first-half Henry Clay turnovers with the help of six steals as the Devils struggled to get shots to fall (27 percent from the field). Meanwhile, the Cards could barely miss, especially in the second quarter where they made 10 of 17 shots.
Owens led four Cardinals in double figures, scoring 19 points, followed by Kenady Tompkins with 14, Juliette Smith, 13 and Morgan DeFoor, 12. Malea Williams had a game high 17 rebounds and four blocks to go with her six points. Kiya Thompson led Henry Clay with 15 points in her final game as a Blue Devil. She’s committed to play college at West Virginia State.
Scott County won the state title in 1995. This year marks the fifth time both the Scott County boys’ and girls’ programs have reached the state tournament, doing so the last two years and in 1995, 1996 and 2010.
Next game
Scott County vs. Knott County Central
What: Girls’ Sweet Sixteen
Where: Rupp Arena
When: March 13, Noon
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 10:07 PM.
