Joe Imel/Daily NewsBreathitt County’s Lenae Shouse (left) pulls down a rebound Wednesday against Rowan County’s Eden Keeton in the opening round of the girls’ Sweet 16 at E.A. Diddle Arena.Click here for more photos from the Sweet 16.

After falling in the first round of the state tournament last season, Breathitt County center Lenae Shouse declared her team would be back.

Not only did the Lady Cats make it back to the Houchens Industries/KHSAA Sweet Sixteen this season, but after their performance Wednesday, it looks as though they’ll be hanging around for a while.

Shouse, now a senior, had 12 points and 14 rebounds and eighth-grade teammate Kendall Noble pitched in with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots t8o push Breathitt County past Rowan County 60-49 in an opening-round matchup at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Click here for more photos from the Sweet 16.

“We came down here last year and I said we were going to come back, and I think everybody laughed about it – but we’re a team, we’re really a team and we depend on one another,” Shouse said. “When one of us is down the other one picks you up, so that’s what really helped us.”

The win wasn’t certain early in the third quarter, however, as the Lady Cats trailed the Lady Vikings 32-25 with 6:42 remaining in the frame.

Breathitt County tightened up defensively, controlled the glass and converted on the offensive end over the remainder of the game, however. The Lady Cats used a 25-5 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a 50-37 lead with just 2:48 to go in the fourth quarter.

“I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to get better, you’ve got to play better,” said Breathitt County coach Peggy Moore, whose team will take on DuPont Manual in the quarterfinals Friday. “Being here last year, especially for Kendall and Lenae … I think that experience, especially for some of the kids who came off the bench last year, just made us more relaxed and better prepared to play.”

Rowan County coach Scott Tackett said the difference was his team’s inability to compete on the boards – Breathitt County won the rebounding battle, 46-28 – combined with a poor overall shooting percentage. Rowan County shot just 27.9 percent for the game.

“We forced them into 27 turnovers, but we just weren’t able to overcome that 46-to-28 rebounding advantage,” Tackett said. “We missed a lot of open looks, a lot of shots we normally make, and had a few more of those gone down, the outcome may have been different – but they didn’t.

“I don’t want this one game to diminish what these young ladies have done all year long – they’re 27-6, won the 16th Region championship with no starter taller than 5-foot-6, (were) outsized and outmanned every single night, but we got by on guts and determination.”

Amanda Southwood added 16 points for the Lady Cats (27-4), while the Lady Vikings were paced by eight points each from Cassidi Spurlock, Caitlin Martin and Jennifer Brockman.

Shouse made good so far on her declaration last season, but judging by her comments Wednesday, her team’s work isn’t finished.

“It’s a really big deal this year after we came down here last year and didn’t win anything, I guess,” Shouse said. “This year we have a job to do and we’re going to go as far as we can go.”

BCHS 16 8 13 23 – 60

RCHS 13 15 6 15 – 49

BCHS – Southwood 16, Haddix 13, Noble 16, Hardin 3, L. Shouse 12.

RCHS – Hamilton 3, Muncy 3, Kiser 1, Spurlock 8, Riddle 7, Martin 8, Brockman 8, Kissinger 5, Barr 6.