Defending All ‘A’ champ endures ridiculously hard schedule on way back to tourney
Note: Herald-Leader high school sports writer Jared Peck traveled to Louisville on Saturday to see the Statewide Mortgage Valentine Shootout at Butler Traditional High School where 12 of the best girls’ basketball teams in the state competed in a morning-to-night showcase event. Here’s one of the stories to come out of the day.
Bethlehem has put itself through a wringer this season, facing a schedule that would make many hearty competitors shake their heads.
In the last week, the Banshees (12-3), seventh in Dave Cantrall’s Rating the State, have lost 66-65 at No. 3 Boyd County, 74-67 at No. 6 Bardstown and 57-56 at No. 1 Anderson County. But they also have wins over No. 2 Marshall County and always-tough Shelby Valley and Mercy on their résumé.
It won’t get easier, as Bardstown and perennial 5th Region favorite, No. 14 Elizabethtown, probably still lie in their path if they hope to earn a bid to the Sweet 16.
“Here’s what happened with the schedule, when (most of Bethlehem’s schedule) got canceled, I couldn’t find any games,” Coach Jason Clark explained, noting he has been apologizing to his assistants all season for the gantlet he had to put together when the All “A” Classic dates changed and some other cancellations happened. “The only teams that called us and wanted to play us were teams like Boyd and Sacred Heart and stuff. …”
Seeing so many great teams, Clark said Anderson County might have stood out the most.
“Anderson is efficient,” Clark said. “You’ve got to play four quarters on them. … On offense, (they’re) a machine. Cuts, screens — the girls know what they’re supposed to do.”
But there’s a silver lining to these hard lessons for his team.
“I knew this would make us better,” Clark said.
A 66-61 win over Herald-Leader preseason No. 11 Manual at the Statewide Mortgage Valentine Shootout at Butler on Saturday bolstered their belief the Banshees can defend their All “A” Classic title next week and contend in an increasingly difficult 5th Region. Manual is one of the several Jefferson County Public Schools teams that just began the season last week, a month later than most of the state.
Senior point guard Amelia Hodges and senior forward Ella Thompson have been the anchors of a team that made a surprising run to the Girls’ Sweet 16 two years ago and captured the midseason small-school title last season.
The goal this year, of course, is to do both in their farewell tour.
Hodges leads the Banshees with 15.4 points per game and scored 12 with a pair of threes on Saturday against the Crimsons while second-leading scorer Thompson poured in 22 points with eight rebounds, four of them on the offensive end. They also got 12 and 10 points, respectively, from sophomores Xavi Smalley and Emma Filiatreau.
“We’ve been playing the best of the best,” Clark said. “We welcome the challenges, but as a team, we’ve got to get better defensively. As you can see, we’re pretty gifted on the offensive end and got a lot of players that can make plays. But when it comes down to the big games, you’ve got to get stops.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 7:46 AM.
