Lady Colonels Down Lady Cats In Final Seconds

Lauren Ballance tries to wrestle her way through three Caverna defenders.

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photo:
The Lady Cats were quite rusty at Caverna last night as they were taken down with a Lady Colonels go-ahead bucket in the final seconds for a 41-39 loss.

Turnovers and poor shooting plagued Edmonson County throughout the contest that Head Coach Bart Weaver described as embarrassing.

"This is a real tough loss. It's by far the worst loss of the season," he said. "It's not the time to be doing this in the middle of February."

Edmonson County schools had to close two different times over the past two weeks as a result of poor attendance due to area wide illnesses. Edmonson County basketball teams had only two practices and no games during the 10-day period, which can be very problematic for the rhythm of any team.

"It is what is," he said. "We crushed them on the boards (38-23) but shot 26% for the game...usually our rebounding and defense overcomes those nights. Our rebounding was good but I thought our defense was pitiful tonight."

Weaver said it seemed like his team was never in any sort of flow in the game. Only 5 team members were able to score in the contest with only one in double figures, which was Lauren Ballance. She led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

"If being embarrassed, losing to a 6-9 team, doesn't do it, I don't know what can do it," he said when asked about how a game like this can motivate his team for the final two weeks of the regular season. 

The Lady Cats jumped out to a 4 point lead within seconds after causing two quick turnovers and scoring, but Caverna adjusted and began driving the lane. The Lady Cats struggled with help defense and Lady Colonels scorers had easy layups. Both teams traded punches throughout the contest and the low-scoring affair was tied at 18 at the half. Caverna took a 28-25 lead going into the final quarter.

Edmonson County led 35-31 with 3 mins left. The Lady Cats took a 37-36 lead on Emma Rose Vincent's free throws with 1:46 remaining. Out of a timeout, Caverna's McKeeya Faulkner hit a three pointer to give them a 39-37 lead with 1:26 to go. The Lady Cats turned the ball over on the next possession. Caverna was fouled but missed both free throws as the Lady Cats rebounded. Lauren Ballance was fouled with 13.7 seconds left. She nailed both free throws to tie the game at 39 but Caverna was able to score with 2.8 seconds left. Edmonson County had to throw up a deep three at the buzzer that fell short.

The remaining box score for the Lady Cats was: E. Vincent 9, Lindsey 4, Harrison 3, McCombs 2.

The Lady Cats are now 14-9 on the season and are scheduled to take on Ohio County at home on Thursday in a girls JV/V match beginning at 6pm.