11th Region girls’ semifinals will be test of physicality, players say
The postseason is here and all the hard work they’ve put in since October should manifest itself on the court, Lafayette girls’ coach Allison Tate Denton said she told her team ahead of Monday night’s 11th Region Tournament quarterfinal against Scott County.
“The hay’s in the barn,” Tate Denton said. “Then I had to explain to them what that meant.”
While her players might not have grasped the quirky sports metaphor for their efforts, they did take a lesson from their 43rd District finals overtime loss to Tates Creek last week and apply it for their 61-52 win over the Cardinals.
“Just being physical and trying to get on the boards and playing solid defense,” junior forward Anaya Brown said of the lessons learned from the loss. “It made us play a little bit harder because games are going to get tougher as the season goes on.”
Brown scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Scott County.
Teammate Lauren Walton had a big game, as well, scoring 24 points and making six of 10 from three-point range. Her five three-pointers in the first half helped Lafayette keep pace with the free-shooting 42nd District champions.
Her final three-pointer of the night came in transition after Brown deflected a Scott County pass into the post. Walton swished it from 2 feet outside the arc on the right wing for a 46-35 lead with just over a quarter to play. It was Lafayette’s biggest lead of the night.
“It felt pretty good. I was just trying to put points in so we could get the win,” Walton said matter-of-factly. But her threes came as part of a concerted effort to learn from their loss to Tates Creek. “We didn’t get into our offense last game and we tried to work on that throughout practice. We feel like we did that better.”
Kenady Tompkins and Emma Price each scored 15 points for Scott County (10-9). Tyra Young added 14 points.
Next, Lafayette (15-6) will face a Madison Southern (18-6) team who has demonstrated all season that they are just as physical and accurate from three-point range as Tates Creek proved to be against Lafayette last Friday. Madison Southern routed Lafayette 52-36 in Lexington on Feb. 5.
“We didn’t match their physicality, and when we started turning it around it was too late,” Walton recalled. “We just need to start off that way this time.”
The Eagles defeated Great Crossing 49-44 Monday in one of the region’s other quarterfinals. Madison Southern closed the game against Great Crossing with a 12-2 run. Senior guard Samantha Cornelison led the Eagles with 19 points.
“They’re very physical … and we’ve seen other teams that have been physical,” Tate Denton said. “We know what we need to do to win against physical teams, it’s just a matter if we do it.”
Lafayette and Madison Southern will play the 5:30 p.m. game of the 11th Region semifinals doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky’s McBrayer Arena on Wednesday. Tates Creek will face Franklin County at 8:15 p.m.
Her players know their offensive and defensive sets by heart, Tate Denton said. And at this point, every game comes down to a few crucial elements.
“I just said, ‘Go play the game. We’ve been doing this since October. You know it. Go figure it out — don’t get out-hustled; don’t give up rebounds; know where the shooters are — all the same things we’ve said every game.’ … The game, right now, is with the players.”
The other semifinalists
Tates Creek, the 43rd District champion, topped 42nd District runner-up Frederick Douglass 70-62.
Alisce Lyvers led the Commodores with 17 points and had 15 assists. The Commodores also had 11 three pointers as a team. Lyvers led them in that category with four.
Creek (8-11) will face Franklin County (15-5), the 41st District champ who dominated 44th District runner-up Madison Central in a 64-28 win.
The Flyers were led by forward Patience Laster’s 21 points and 14 rebounds while Tennessee commit Brooklynn Miles contributed 14 points and 11 assists. Neveah Carter added 11 points and six assists.
Franklin County holds the highest Dave Cantrall Rating by far of any of the other semifinalists with 77.1 ratings points to Tates Creek’s 60.7. Lafayette’s 65.9 and Madison Southern’s 64.8. But the Commodores have found an extra gear defensively that they didn’t display during the regular season and have won four straight.
11th Region semifinals
Wednesday at EKU’s McBrayer Arena
5:30 p.m.: Lafayette vs. Madison Southern
8:15 p.m.: Tates Creek vs. Franklin County
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 7:43 AM.
