Barren County bought into Piper Lindsey’s process four years ago.

A process, by definition, is continuous. It’s March, the Trojanettes are still playing and can now check a box that had been void since 2007.

Barren County buckled down in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 47-35 win over Bowling Green to claim the Region 4 Girls’ Basketball Tournament championship Tuesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The District 15 champion Trojanettes (31-4) are now region champions for the first time since their head coach was a player at Barren County. They’ll wait more than a week to play Pikeville on March 14 in the first round of the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 in Lexington.

“We’ve wanted this since middle school and for our dreams to come true, it’s an undescribable feeling,” Barren County senior Bailey Pedigo said. “Just relief that we finally did it and we’re going to state next week.”

The Trojanettes outscored Bowling Green 18-8 in the fourth quarter and held the Lady Purples (26-8) to single-digit scoring in all but the first quarter.

Bowling Green came out hot and led Barren County by seven at one point in the second quarter before defense dictated a tight contest until the last eight minutes.

That’s when Barren County opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run that sent a crowd dominated by Trojanette supporters into a frenzy.

“I think we had the most people here all region tournament,” Pedigo said.

Elizabeth Bertram scored 16 points and McKenzie England added 10 points for Barren County, which hadn’t played in a region final since 2009.

Lindsey’s process began four years ago when the Trojanettes went 12-16 in her first year coaching her alma mater. Barren County won 20 games in 2016-17 and reached 25 wins last season. The winningest season in program history will now include a shot at a state tournament run at Rupp Arena.

England’s buzzer-beater in overtime of the District 15 Tournament against Allen County-Scottsville secured Barren County’s spot in the region tournament, then the Trojanettes slid by South Warren in a first-round thriller last week.

Barren County eased by Logan County 71-41 in the semifinals before a defensive battle with Bowling Green in the championship game.

“I don’t care what anybody says, you can always use a little bit of luck and you hope it’s going to be on our side,” Lindsey said. “We’re extremely blessed, to be quite honest, to be here after the first game.

“We had some big shots and big playmakers, it’s all the team combined.”

Bowling Green set the tone early by taming the normal speedy tempo Barren County wants to run. The Lady Purples stifled Barren County with six turnovers that helped Bowling Green take the lead with a 6-0 run to end the first quarter.

Barren County’s turnover woes climbed to 12 by halftime, but the Trojanettes defense held its ground and kept Bowling Green scoreless the last 5:22 of the first half.

Lindsey said in order for the Trojanettes to get out of “doodoo land,” the second half would have to be a different story.

“When we got to the locker room, coach Lindsey ripped us a new one and told us you can’t have these turnovers and win against a good team,” Bertram said. “We adjusted and didn’t make any more turnovers.”

Bowling Green’s scoreless run lasted until the 4:59 mark of the third quarter when Saniyah Shelton drove the lane to cut Barren County’s lead to 22-21. That sparked a 6-0 run that was answered quickly by Katie Murphy’s 3-pointer in the left corner to tie it at 25-all.

The Lady Purples were hindered during that scoreless drought with Taylor Ragland picking up three fouls by halftime. She finished the night with four points on 2-of-7 shooting.

“Foul trouble kind of plagued us and we couldn’t score enough to keep them off balanced and keep the pressure on them,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “They made big play after big play. Kudos to them and they’re going to be a great representative for the fourth region at the state tournament. Our kids left it out there on the floor.”

Bertram put Barren County on her back to pull away in the fourth quarter by contributing eight points to a 10-0 run that extended the Trojanettes’ lead by double digits.

“Every timeout, we said we’re winning this game,” Bertram said. “I just took that to heart and went and scored. That’s what you’ve got to do.”

Barren County’s 12-of-13 free-throw shooting helped keep a solid cushion. Mallory Pedigo’s dish to a wide-open England under the basket made it an 11-point lead for the Trojanettes with under a minute to go.

Bowling Green made just 2 of 14 shots from the field in the final eight minutes. Keyozdon Jones led the District 14 champions with 11 points and T’Alla Brown added 10 points and four steals.

“I feel bad for our seniors, but we have a good, young core coming back so I’m excited about the future,” Head said. “So happy to get back to this stage again and play in this game.”

BGHS 10 9 8 8 – 35

BCHS 7 11 11 18 – 47

BGHS – Jones 11, Brown 10, Shelton 6, Ragland 4, Tisdale 3, Gray 1.

BCHS – Bertram 16, England 10, B. Pedigo 8, Bush 4, Murphy 3, M. Pedigo 2, Ennis 2, Delk 2.

Girls’ Region 4 All-Tournament Team

McKenzie England, Barren County

Bailey Pedigo, Barren County

Elizabeth Bertram, Barren County

Mallory Pedigo, Barren County

Taylor Ragland, Bowling Green

Keyozdon Jones, Bowling Green

T’Alla Brown, Bowling Green

Amanda Lee, Glasgow

KJ Hughes, Glasgow

Ashanti Gore, Glasgow

Sarah Beth Hale, Logan County

Paige Vanzant, Logan County

Brooke Stevenson, South Warren

Natalie Pierce, South Warren

Addison Loy, Russell County

Kaylee Harbison, Metcalfe County{&end}