Girls All ‘A’ Classic: Walton-Verona avenges a loss, heads back to title game
Facing the team that defeated them in last year’s All “A” Classic title game and down 12-7 after one quarter, Walton-Verona responded emphatically with a dominating 60-41 win over Owensboro Catholic in Saturday’s semifinals to send the Bearcats back for another try at the small-school state crown.
“We just kept telling ourselves that this year’s going to be different,” Walton-Verona point guard Hayley Neeley said of the Lady Aces’ early run. “We’re not going to let them overcome us.”
Neeley scored seven of her 17 points in a decisive second quarter that saw the Bearcats turn what was a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead just before half as her steal and racing layup made it 26-18, capping the 19-6 run.
“We played together. We shared the ball. We made the extra pass,” Neeley said of her team’s turnaround.
The win put the Bearcats in Sunday’s All “A” Classic championship game where they’ll tip off against Bethlehem, a 53-36 winner over Danville in Saturday’s other semifinal matchup.
Emma Strunk led the Bearcats with 20 points and 14 rebounds, but she struggled early. Coach Mark Clinkenbeard sat her down toward the end of the first period.
“Sometimes you’ve got to let the game come to you. You get excited. You try to do too much,” Clinkenbeard said. “She ended up with 13 rebounds after that (and all of her points). She played really well.”
The atmosphere for Sunday’s noon tipoff at Eastern Kentucky’s McBrayer Arena promises to be electric as Walton-Verona and Bethlehem have brought some of the biggest and most enthusiastic fan bases to Richmond this week. Walton-Verona defeated Bethlehem in last year’s All “A” quarterfinals.
“They’re really good,” Clinkenbeard said of Bethlehem. “They play at such a high pace and we’re playing the fourth game in five days, so I don’t know. We’ll see. Who has legs and who can make shots? That will be a big thing tomorrow.”
Bethlehem 53, Danville 36
After seeing Danville cut what was a 13-point deficit to four points at the end of the third quarter, seemingly seizing all the momentum, Bethlehem responded with an electric final frame, outscoring the Admirals 19-6 over the final eight minutes.
“We dug in on defense, man,” Bethlehem Coach Jason Clark said.
With tenuous 34-30 lead out of the final quarter break, a Kasey Spalding steal led to a Mikiah Livers-Bryant layup. Then after a quick miss on the other end, Spalding’s up-fake got her space for a 15-foot baseline jumper to make it 38-30. Danville immediately called timeout as the Bethlehem bench sprung to its feet and the Banshees crowd roared.
Spalding knew the moment was big. “(I was thinking) I have to hit the shot. It’s a really big shot,” she said. “I calmed myself down and said ‘everything’s going to be OK. I just have to hit the shot.’”
Amelia Hodges led the Banshees with 17 points. Spalding had 14 and Livers-Bryant scored 10. Bethlehem’s Ella Thompson grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Desiree Tandy scored 10 for Danville.
