Lady Cats Advance To District Finals With Scrappy Win Over Trinity

Edmonson 37 Trinity 33

Lady Cat senior Hallie Cassady wrestles for the ball against a Trinity defender.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
It was a physical, slow-paced game last night in Butler County for the first round of the girls' District 12 Tournament as Edmonson County's defense and keeping Trinity away from the offensive glass was credited for holding the Lady Raiders to only 24% shooting in a 37-33 Lady Cat win. That win not only allows them a chance for their fourth district title in five years, but also allows them to play in the region tournament next week.

Heading into the game, Coach Bart Weaver said that he was going to focus on three things in order to defeat the Lady Raiders, which were out-rebounding them, shooting 65% or more from the free throw line, and keeping the turnovers at 15 or below. Edmonson County didn't do any of that, yet they still found a way to defeat Trinity, who had beaten the Lady Cats twice before during the season.

"These girls play defense every single night," said Weaver. "Tonight, we made a little adjustment."

He said that Lily Jayne Vincent had been chasing Trinity's leading scorer Cassidy Morris (17.8ppg 10rpg) on a triangle-and-two defense all night, however, Vincent was still recovering from a 6-day stomach bug. He said that junior guard Annie Kiper suggested that Kiper chase Morris and let Vincent help in the middle. Kiper was able to cause problems for Morris while Vincent was better able to shore things up elsewhere.

"She (Kiper) did a great job on her, and Hallie, Cariann, and LJ did a great job on the triangle of help, Paige did another great job on Josie Aull and held her to not very many points, so that's the story of the game," Weaver said.

The Lady Cat bench reacts to a play against Trinity on Monday night.

Paige Wolfe goes for 2 of her 10 points against Trinity.

Knowing that the first round game of the district tournament is do-or-die, senior Hallie Cassady shared what the players were discussing before the game.

"I said, you know girls this is it. If we don't come out with a win tonight then we're going home," Cassady said. "Coach Weaver said yesterday in practice that tomorrow night, half the teams in Kentucky are going home, and I said in the locker room, I don't want to be one of those teams and they all agreed with me. I think we definitely showed up tonight and we gave it all we had. We're not going home tonight and we're going to be ready to play Thursday."

Annie Kiper puts up a shot over a Trinity defender.

The Lady Cats got off to a rough start in the first quarter with a missed shot and three straight turnovers. They committed 20 turnovers for the game, compared to 10 for Trinity. They trailed the entire first half and was down 19-18 at halftime.

Annie Kiper pump-faked a shot and banked in a layup at the beginning of the third to give the Lady Cats their first lead of the game at 20-18. Both teams went on scoring droughts for the remainder of the quarter but Edmonson County led 25-21 going into the fourth. Edmonson's defense held Trinity to only two points in the third.

Trinity scored the first two baskets of the fourth and tied the score at 25 with 6:36 to go. The Lady Cats then scored five unanswered as Paige Wolfe scored on both a layup and a big three-pointer with 5:15 left in the game for a 30-25 lead. Edmonson County would never lose the lead again, despite some spotty free throw shooting here and there. The Lady Cats shot only 46% from the free throw line for the game.

Annie Kiper led the Lady Cats with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Paige Wolfe also had 10 points.

Cariann Williams had 8 points and 6 rebounds, Hallie Cassady had 7 points and 7 rebounds, and Lily J Vincent had 2 points and 7 rebounds.

The Lady Cats improve to 11-19 on the season and are scheduled to take on Butler County in the finals on Thursday night. Butler County defeated Grayson County last night 48-36. The Lady Bears defeated the Lady Cats at home recently on a last-second shot where the clock malfunctioned during the play. The basket was counted good despite the clock not working. 

Thursday's tip off is scheduled for 7PM. The game will be streamed live on the Edmonson Voice beginning around 6:45PM.