Girls’ Sweet 16: Big-time three-pointers help Marshall County push past Pikeville
Trying to keep Pikeville at bay in the fourth quarter, Marshall County Coach Aaron Beth called a play the Marshals hadn’t run all season.
Forward Jada Driver sprung out to the wing off the inbounds screen from teammate Sophie Galloway and drained her third three-pointer of the game to provide the Marshals enough cushion to hang on for a 56-52 win on day two of the first round of the Mingua Beef Jerky/KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
Pikeville had cut the Marshals lead to four points on three different occasions in the fourth period and trailed by five, 47-42, with 4:18 remaining after a free throw resulting from a technical foul assessed to the Panthers’ bench.
Cue Driver’s three-pointer and a 50-42 lead with 4:05 to play. Pikeville wouldn’t get as close as four again until 16 seconds remained.
“It was huge. It kind of gave us the momentum back when we needed it,” Beth said. “She’s a pure shooter. … All of them are huge, and I think that one … was maybe one of the biggest baskets of the game.”
But Driver had others, specifically a buzzer-beating near-midcourt heave that put Marshall County up 18-12 at the end of the first quarter. She quickly followed that up with her second three-pointer as the Marshals went on an 11-0 run in the second period that pushed the margin to as many as 12 points. Driver finished with 12 points.
Cayson Conner, Marshall’s Miss Basketball candidate, notched 11 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, six of those on three-point conversions after fouls. Conner took a hard foul and tumbled into the goal standard on one play, but bounced up and swished one of her five first-half free throws on five tries. She finished the game making 12 of 15 free throws.
“We, honestly, haven’t had that many games that were down to the wire where we had to do things like that,” Beth said. “For us to step up to this situation and finish the game out, I couldn’t be more proud of our girls.”
Marshall senior Sophie Galloway, said her team prepared for a physical game.
“When you get in the game and you have adrenaline and you fight against people, it’s a lot different (than watching it on film),” Galloway said. “But I think that we were ready for the game, and that’s what kind of pushed us through it.”
Though Pikeville never fully recovered from the Marshals’ first-half run, it also wouldn’t let Marshall County get away despite a wide disparity in fouls and free throw opportunities. Marshall County went to the free throw line 34 times, making 20 of them. Pikeville made five of eight foul shots.
Pikeville’s seven three-pointers, including two down the stretch from Trinity Rowe and Kristen White, kept the Panthers in it.
“What I’m proud of is how my girls competed and how they left it out on the floor,” Pikeville Coach Kristy Orem said. “They played their tails off and followed our game plan. “They did exactly what we said we were going to do coming into this game — and even with the adversity that we had to face — we were able to be right there at the end.”
Rowe, a freshman making her second Sweet 16 appearance, led the Panthers with 18 points, including three three-pointers. Senior Kenzie Maynard added 12.
Next Marshall County plays at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday’s afternoon game between Bethlehem and Bullitt East, two of the tournament’s highest-rated teams, according to the Dave Cantrall ratings.
Girls’ Sweet 16
What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion
When: Wednesday through Saturday
Where: Rupp Arena
Tickets: Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org.
Girls’ Sweet 16 scores, schedule
At Rupp Arena
Wednesday
Sacred Heart 64, Knott County Central 32
Bowling Green 50, Bishop Brossart 48, 2OT
Franklin County 55, South Laurel, 50, OT
Anderson County 78, Southwestern 67
Thursday
Marshall County 56, Pikeville 52
Bethlehem 70, Bullitt East 65
Henderson County vs. Apollo, (n)
Dixie Heights vs. Russell, (n)
Friday
11 a.m.: Sacred Heart vs. Bowling Green
2 p.m.: Franklin County vs. Anderson County
5 p.m.: Marshall County vs. Bethlehem
8 p.m.: Henderson County-Apollo winner vs. Dixie Heights-Russell winner
Saturday
11 a.m., 2 p.m.: Semifinal games
8 p.m.: Championship game
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 2:09 PM.
