In win-or-go-home games, Lafayette girls, Dunbar boys survive and advance
Being able to host the 43rd District Tournament provided the perfect opportunity for Lafayette girls’ basketball to achieve one of its big goals this season.
“We played harder. We wanted to win. It’s our home court,” said junior forward Anaya Brown, explaining the difference in the Generals’ 54-47 victory over Lexington Catholic in the 43rd semis, which in addition to earning them a chance for a district title, advances them to next week’s 11th Region Tournament in Richmond.
“That win was huge because we hadn’t been in the region tournament for two years,” said Lafayette Coach Allison Tate Denton, who last led the Generals to a 43rd District title in 2017 and an 11th Region title in 2014. “We have an advantage being at our house, and we prepared. I wouldn’t say we executed everything we were supposed to, but when it came down to it, there were about four trips down the court toward the end of the game that sealed the deal for us.”
The sequence began with a Brown block near the start of the fourth quarter as Lafayette extended a three-point lead to seven. Lafayette switched from their matchup man defense to a two-three zone. Lexington Catholic had four empty possessions out of five as the Generals built a 48-41 cushion with 1:52 to play.
Brown’s length at 6 feet tall, posed problems for Lexington Catholic wherever she was stationed. Brown led Lafayette with 14 points, 12 rebounds four assists, four blocks and five steals. Olivia Cathers knocked down four fourth quarter free throws on her way to 13 points and Lauren Walton had a team high three three-pointers among her 11 points. Ariel West led LexCath (11-7) with 13 points. Olivia Bretz added 10.
Lafayette (14-5) trailed by four at the end of one quarter and by three at halftime. A Walton three-pointer two minutes into the third quarter put Lafayette back in the lead 24-23. They would not trail again.
“They were big,” Walton said of threes during the game by herself, Gracyn Grantz, Catherine Jacobs and Kiley Noble. “It definitely boosted our confidence and our energy. … Everybody just got out of their own head and calmed down. We pulled it together.”
That kind of play will be crucial to Lafayette’s next outing where they’ll face the winner of defending district title holder Paul Laurence Dunbar and Tates Creek in the other semifinal, scheduled Wednesday night.
The Generals swept the Commodores during the regular season and got swept by the Bulldogs, although they pushed Dunbar to double-overtime before falling 69-65 on Feb. 25.
“I think we feel pretty good about it,” Walton said of a possible rematch with Dunbar. “We felt good going into the last time we played them. I think how we played last time gave us even more confidence.”
Tate Denton believes home-court advantage will be big for the Generals in the finals, as well, regardless of COVID-19 restrictions on attendance.
“We’re comfortable here. We work here. We run here. We get yelled at here,” Tate Denton said. “When I played, I was always taught: ‘Are you going to let somebody come in your house and take something from you?’ (No). And it gives you a little bit more fight … This is not their home. This is our home. So in my book, it makes the difference.”
43rd boys’ semifinals
Paul Laurence Dunbar 64, Lafayette 54: The Bulldogs (12-5) saw Lafayette trim a 13 point third-quarter lead to just one with just over six minutes left in the game, but the steady play of standout junior Tim Hall and his teammates helped secure a spot in Friday’s 43rd District finals and next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
“I kind of took it upon myself to kind of take over but not really force anything — just let it flow,” Hall said of his 28-point performance, which included seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals. “It was basically just running the game plan that Coach laid out for us.”
Hall scored six of Dunbar’s next 10 points after Lafayette made it a 48-47 game. Four of those points came at the foul line. Zach Carter and Nick Spalding also scored in that stretch as the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 11 points with under a minute to play. Free throws by Cade Hilt and Max VanDyke helped wrap it up.
“There’s plenty of teams in our bracket that would like to be in the same position as us but we just worked harder, kept going at it and didn’t let anything slow us down.”
Nick Spalding contributed 12 points for Dunbar. Torri Turner led three players in double figures for Lafayette (9-14) with 14 points. Abe Nelson had 12. Will Stanfield scored 11.
Lafayette’s presses and traps sped Dunbar up and got them out of their game plan in both the early and late-going.
“We struggled a little bit, really trying to do a little too much against the press instead of just kind of executing the way we want to attack it,” Dunbar Coach Scott Chalk said.
That’s a key point because both of their potential next opponents, either No. 1 Lexington Catholic or Lexington Christian, also press and trap to create turnovers and easy buckets. The Knights and Eagles play in Wednesday night’s other semifinal.
Dunbar is the only team to defeat the Knights this season.
Chalk said he and his team appreciated the shot at a district title, because they don’t come around all the time. Dunbar has been to the district finals just once since its 2016 state championship.
“We have no seniors this year, so we’re excited to be back in the regional tournament,” Chalk said. “But, really, we want to win the district. We haven’t had a district championship since we won the (state) championship. So, we’re hungry for the district championship, first. We’re not looking too far ahead.”
42nd District
Boys’ semifinals: Dashawn Jackson scored 22 points, Kai Simpson added 17 and the top-seeded Broncos topped Sayre 81-47 for a spot in Friday’s district finals at Bryan Station High School.
Douglass (17-1) built a five-point first quarter lead to 20 by halftime as a Jackson three-pointer sparked a 20-2 run that essentially put the game away. Tyson Barrett added 10 points. Zander Collett led the Spartans with 22.
The Broncos will face the winner of Wednesday night’s other semifinals between Henry Clay and Scott County.
Girls’ semifinals: Maleiyah Moore and Kennedy Tompkins scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead Scott County to a 56-45 win over Bryan Station.
Moore scored 11 of her points in a decisive first period in which the Cardinals (10-8) jumped to a 16-4 advantage and faced only one significant Bryan Station run thereafter. The Defenders (6-12) cut the lead to as little as six points midway through the third quarter, but would get no closer. Tania Woodall and Makari Murphy each scored 12 to lead Bryan Station.
Scott County advances to Friday’s district finals where it will face the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Sayre and Frederick Douglass.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 8:36 AM.
