Manual, Dunbar play today for spot in title game
Published 6:00 am Saturday, March 10, 2012
Montgomery County coach Janie Robinson called the first three minutes of her team’s game against Manual the highlight of her day.
But the Lady Indians ran into a Lady Crimson buzzsaw after that, as Manual (35-2) rolled to a 71-33 win Friday in the quarterfinals of the Houchens Industries/KHSAA Girls’ Sweet Sixteen at E.A. Diddle Arena.
“Once they got the lead, we knew it was going to be pretty tough because it’s a team we can’t press or trap,” Robinson said. “They’re just so athletic that once we got out of position, they were able to score easily.”
Manual, ranked No. 1 in the state in the Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, won its 20th game in a row and limited its opponent to fewer than 35 points for the 12th time this year.
Twelve players scored for the Lady Crimsons, paced by senior guard Kara Wright’s 13 points. Senior guards LeAsia Wright (12 points) and April Wilson (10) also scored in double figures.
“They were playing us man-to-man, and we have some pretty good sets against man-to-man,” Manual coach Stacy Pendleton said. “Nobody can guard (LeAsia) or Kara. They didn’t double them, so we went to them and got a lot of buckets.”
Wilson, who averages 12.6 points, is one of five finalists announced Friday for Kentucky’s Miss Basketball award. She’s the lone finalist still competing in the state tournament.
“It’s a blessing,” Wilson said. “It’s not one of my main goals because I’m an unselfish person. It would be huge if I got it, but my eye’s on something else, and that’s a state championship.”
Montgomery County (29-7) scored the first five points of the game and led for much of the first quarter. But Manual ended the first frame and began the second with a 10-0 run, leading 19-11 after a Kara Wright jumper at the 7:19 mark.
LeAsia Wright, a Western Kentucky recruit, scored eight of the Lady Crimsons’ final 10 points before halftime, helping them lead 35-21 at the break.
Manual extended its advantage to as many as 41 points with 1:10 to play, scoring 34 points off 24 turnovers by Montgomery County.
“In the last couple of games … we really didn’t get into any offensive flow,” Pendleton said. “I really think April helped us with that early. She played like Miss Basketball in the first few minutes and got her teammates going.”
The Lady Crimsons shot 47.4 percent from the field and outrebounded the Lady Indians 43-25. Montgomery County shot 29.5 percent and made five field goals in the second half.
“We asked them to make some shots that we thought they maybe wouldn’t, and they did,” Robinson said.
Manual has reached the final four for the third time in five seasons but has never won a state title.
The Lady Crimsons take on Paul Laurence Dunbar at 10 a.m. today in the semifinals, with the championship game scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight.
“It gives these seniors experience, and it gives me experience as well,” Pendleton said. “We know that Saturday is very tough. It’s a very tough day to coach and play in, and you’ve got to be mentally and physically ready.”
MCHS 11 10 7 5 – 33
MHS 14 21 25 11 – 71
MCHS – Rogers 8, Spence 7, Lockett 7, Colliver 3, Taul 3, Barker 3, Conyers 2.
MHS – K. Wright 13, L. Wright 12, Wilson 10, Styles 7, Curry 6, Pasley 6, Mitchell 6, Bodine 3, Allen 3, Long 2, Hawkins 2, Davis-Kent 1.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 70, Butler 52
The Lady Bulldogs (30-6) netted 27 of 35 free throws, including 13 makes in the fourth quarter, to beat Butler 70-52 in the first quarterfinal of the day.
“We shoot free throws all the time in practice,” said senior forward Morgan McEldowney, who made 8 of 8 from the charity stripe. “Same form and rotation, one motion, just follow through. If I see one go in, I’m confident for all of my shots.”
McEldowney scored a game-high 21 points, while Dunbar also got 18 points from Kierra Muhammad and 14 from Brooke Todd.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 47.6 percent and outrebounded Butler 39-27 to mask 24 turnovers.
“Some kids have rough nights, and somebody else steps up,” Dunbar coach Sarah Van Horn said. “I think overall that’s what makes this team such a family and such a strong team.”
Dunbar overcame five turnovers in the first three minutes with a stellar first half from McEldowney.
The forward scored 16 of her points before the break, including the Lady Bulldogs’ last five points of the first quarter that helped build an 18-11 lead.
After Butler’s Danielle Lawrence opened the second quarter with a bucket, Dunbar used an 11-2 run to push its advantage to 29-15 with 4:42 left in the half.
The Bearettes (24-10) trailed by 11 at halftime and cut their deficit to seven with 4:21 remaining in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs stayed poised at the free-throw line.
Butler shot 32.1 percent from the field and made 2 of 18 3-pointers.
“It’s been us,” Butler coach Larry Just said. “I’d say there’s been two basketball games all year long where I’ve felt like we’ve played from start to finish. The rest of it has kind of been that we have our runs, and we have our breakdowns.”
Lawrence paced the Bearettes with 16 points and seven rebounds.
PDHS 18 15 14 23 – 70
BHS 11 11 11 19 – 52
PDHS – McEldowney 21, Muhammad 18, Todd 14, Fender 7, Raglin 4, Edwards 4, Jackson 2.
BHS – Lawrence 16, Smith 10, Moore 9, Martinez 5, Casey 4, Snyder 3, Stallard 3, Elliot 2.