‘We wanted it.’ Can’t-miss quarter propels Lafayette into girls’ 11th Region finals.
Lafayette junior forward Olivia Cathers admitted stepping out on the floor of Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena for the girls’ 11th Region Tournament semifinals was “overwhelming” at first.
The last time the Generals visited here, the players who now make up the core or their team were eighth-graders on the end of the bench.
But after three quarters of jitters and a 28-28 tie with Madison Southern on Wednesday night, a Cathers three-pointer jolted the Generals to life.
Cathers doesn’t shoot threes often, but she makes them at a 40 percent clip. She opened the fourth quarter by knocking one down from the top of the key. It was only the third three of the game for the Generals on 11 attempts.
“That was a big three in that moment, and we needed it,” teammate Anaya Brown said. “It got us going.”
Lafayette didn’t miss a single shot from the field after that, pulling away to a 51-40 victory over the 44th District champions and securing a spot in Saturday’s 11th Region Tournament championship game.
“We’ve worked really hard to get here. And tonight just to be here on this floor with juniors and no seniors? We wanted it,” Cathers said. “We feel like we deserved it, so that’s where the fight came from, from every player.”
Lafayette Coach Allison Tate Denton anticipated her team would be nervous to start the semifinals. She also felt confident the players would settle down.
“I knew as soon as somebody started going, then everybody else would take a deep breath and start rolling,” Tate Denton said. “A little bit of confidence and the ball goes through that net.”
Soon, Lauren Walton hit her first three of the game. And after Madison Southern tied it 34-34, Walton hit another to put the Generals back in front for good with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Then Brown, Lafayette’s 6-foot tall wing, took over — scoring on back-to-back drives to the bucket to make it seven unanswered points for the Generals and a 41-34 lead with 2:22 to go. Brown’s first layup came as she wrestled the ball free from a Madison Southern defender on her way to the basket. The second seemed to crawl from underneath the rim to over and through.
“We played more physical. We wanted to win and we just settled into our offense and got the job done,” Brown said. “My team needed me in that moment, so I just had to step up.”
Lafayette’s defense forced empty Madison Southern possessions down the stretch and when the Eagles began resorting to fouls to try to stay in the game, the Generals made 10 of their 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. After scoring just 28 points through three quarters, Lafayette outscored Madison Southern 23-12 in the fourth.
“Our defense pretty much did everything we’re supposed to do,” Tate Denton said. “Our offense struggled a little bit because we weren’t making contact to get open. When they figured that out and started playing a little bit tougher, we got to the rim like we need to do and then put our free throws in.”
Brown led Lafayette (16-6) with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. Walton scored 12 points, Gracyn Grantz added 11 and Cathers chipped in nine. Madison Southern (18-7) was led by Samantha Cornelison’s 20 points.
Championship Saturday
Next, Lafayette will face Franklin County (15-5), the defending region champion who has Tennessee commit Brooklynn Miles, one of the leading candidates for this year’s Miss Basketball. Miles averages 16.6 points per game.
The Flyers advanced to Saturday’s finals automatically after their Wednesday opponent, Tates Creek, was forced to withdraw due to a COVID-19 issue.
Franklin County came into this season as one of the favorites to contend for the girls’ Sweet 16 title, but a season-ending injury to starter Jazmine Chambers, a disjointed year disrupted by COVID-19 and some huge losses against teams like Anderson County, Bullitt East and Elizabethtown knocked the Flyers down the Dave Cantrall Ratings chart and out of the media rankings.
Still, Franklin County is the top-rated team in the 11th Region, according to Cantrall, and Tate Denton knows they’re dangerous.
“We can’t turn the dang ball over,” Tate Denton said of the key to Saturday’s game. “If Franklin County is anything like they’ve been in the past, if we turn the ball over, it’s not going to be a good night. In the half court, offensively, we can match up with anybody. If we can keep them in a half-court game defensively, we’re OK. The problem is going to be if we don’t take care of the basketball.”
Franklin County Coach Joey Thacker and his staff sat in the stands and watched Lafayette’s win Wednesday. His game plan for Saturday is simple: defense and Miles.
“You’ve got to hang your hat on the stuff that you do this time of year and hope that you hit enough shots. We have to hang our hat on defense and we’ve done that for six or eight years. We’ve got to continue to do that,” Thacker said. “And on this bigger floor, we’ve got to spread things out and let Brooklynn go.”
LAFAYETTE 51, MADISON SOUTHERN 40
LAFAYETTE (16-6): Brown 5-12 5-8 16; Walton 3-6 4-4 12; Grantz 4-7 2-2 11; Cathers 3-8 2-2 9; Jacobs 0-2 3-4 3; Noble 0-1 0-0 0; Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-36 16-20 51.
MADISON SOUTHERN (18-7): Cornelison 4-16 9-10 20; Parks 2-10 2-2 7; Estep 2-11 3-7 7; Flannery 1-5 2-2 4; Daniels 1-4 0-0 2; French 0-0, 0-0 0; Moberly 0-0 0-0 0; Carter 0-0 0-0 0; Wooten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 10-47 16-21 40.
Lafayette 6 12 10 23—51
Madison Southern 6 14 8 12—40
Three-point goals — Lafayette: 5-17 (Walton 2-5; Cathers 1-4; Grantz 1-2; Brown 1-4; Noble 0-1; Jacobs 0-1); Madison Southern: 4-20 (Cornelison 3-10; Parks 1-5; Flannery 0-2; Daniels 0-1; Wooten 0-1; Estep 0-1). Rebounds — Lafayette: 35 (Brown 14), Madison Southern: 27 (Estep, 11). Assists — Lafayette 10 (Jacobs 5), Madison Southern: 9 (Flannery, Morgan 3).
11th Region championship
Lafayette vs. Franklin County
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: EKU’s McBrayer Arena.
Records: Lafayette 16-6, Franklin County 15-5
Live stream: PrepSpin.com
