42nd District girls' finals: Henry Clay tops Scott Co. for crown

Henry Clay won a triple crown of sorts Thursday and, with it, the girls' 42nd District basketball title.

The Blue Devils withstood a furious Scott County rally to pull out a 65-60 victory.

Both teams move on to Monday's 11th Region tournament at Frankfort.

The Blue Devils (16-11) swept Scott County during the regular season, 64-59 on Jan. 14 and 56-47 on Jan. 31.

"If you told me at the beginning of this season that we had to beat them three times and we go undefeated in the district, I'd thought you were crazy," winning coach Eric Sanford said.

But that's what happened.

T'laya Lyvers led Henry Clay with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Nakirya Joyce added 10 points.

The Cardinals (17-11) were topped by Tereka Guyn with 25 points and 17 rebounds. Rachel Young added 12 points.

The Cards outrebounded Henry Clay 53-46, but had twice as many turnovers (24-12) as the Devils.

Scott County was missing starting guard Audriana Christopher, who injured her left knee during Tuesday's semifinals. She is "day-to-day," according to Coach Steve Helton.

Henry Clay led 35-25 at halftime.

Areanna Porter's bucket to open the second half pushed Henry Clay's lead to 12.

But Scott rallied with a 16-2 run to take a 41-39 lead.

Henry Clay regained the lead through three quarters, 49-46, and never trailed again.

"Very disappointed," Helton said. "We didn't take care of the ball, we didn't rebound the ball, and those are two things we knew we had to do going in.

"Henry Clay, they played with so much energy. They played with so much passion. And we didn't match it first half. Second half, I thought our kids battled a little harder, but we missed a lot of defensive assignments and missed some crucial rebounds at crucial points in the game."

Henry Clay 65, Scott County 60

SCOTT CO. (17-11) — Hawkins 0, Young 12, Guyn 25, Defoor 8, Guy 5, Ward 3, Smith 1, Riddle 4, Boehm 2. Totals 20-60 17-28 60.

HENRY CLAY (16-11) — Lyvers 22, Boyd 5, Davis 7, Joyce 10, Porter 2, Richmond 7, Coney 9, Young 3. Totals 21-69 21-29 65.

Scott County 12 13 21 14—60

Henry Clay 14 21 14 16—65

This story was originally published February 27, 2014 at 9:30 PM with the headline "42nd District girls' finals: Henry Clay tops Scott Co. for crown."