Martin's 33 Points Leads Lady Cats To All A Region Title

Lady Cats Defeat Owensboro Catholic 58-52

Senior Peyton Martin goes for two of her 33 points against Owensboro Catholic.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
Senior point guard Peyton Martin scored a career high 33 points against heavily favored Owensboro Catholic Sunday night to lead the Edmonson County Lady Cats to their first-ever "All A" Region 3 title.

The Lady Aces doubled and tripled-teamed leading scorer Caitlin Simon all night long, limiting her to a season-low 11 points. Simon ranks #9 in the state in points per game, at 24.4. Although Simon had trouble getting good looks at the basket, she was able to help in other ways, by dishing out 6 assists, grabbing 4 rebounds, and adding 2 steals, along with hitting four crucial free throws down the stretch.

The Lady Cats celebrate as they receive the trophy.

Owensboro Catholic had three players standing six-feet tall and above, including a 6 foot guard. The size seemed to bother the Lady Cats in the first quarter as Edmonson County was uncomfortable in the paint and missed some opportunities under the basket, but Catholic had some issues with handling the ball and the Lady Cat defense kept the Lady Aces close, trailing 9-8 after the first.

The second quarter saw Edmonson County adjusting to the size difference by kicking the ball out to open shooters behind the three point line. Martin, Simon, and Katlin Collins all connected on threes in the first half.

The Lady Cats were held to only 21 first half points, but managed to pull ahead at the break and led the Lady Aces, 21-18.

Katlin Collins

Abby Alexander

The Lady Aces surged in the third quarter as they went on a 10-2 run that gave the them a 28-23 lead. Edmonson County answered with a 10-5 run of their own that was capped off by Martin's two free throws. She was a perfect 9 for 9 for the game, and things were tied at 33 going into the fourth.

Caitlin Simon

Martin scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter and went back to the free throw line on the Lady Cats' next trip, hitting two more. Edmonson County forced another turnover against Catholic and Chanley Logsdon drilled a three to extend their lead to 40-33 with five minutes to go. 

Catholic drew the foul and knocked down a couple free throws but Martin hit back-to-back threes for the Lady Cats as the dagger was thrusted into the hearts of Lady Ace fans. The Lady Cats led 46-37 and would never trail again.

Catholic narrowed the gap to 54-52 on a three pointer with 13.5 seconds remaining, but that would be it for the Lady Aces as Edmonson went on to win, 58-52. Martin and Simon hit their free throws during the final minute of the game and the Lady Cats held on for the first All A Region 3 title in school's history.

Martin talked about her career night.

"Things just kind of went my way I guess you could say. People just stepped up at the right time and hit some huge shots," she said. The consecutive threes for Martin were only 6 of her 25-second half points, none of which were bigger than those.

Martin said the plan is to always look for Simon, but with the stifling defense from Catholic, Edmonson had to turn elsewhere for points and Martin humbly said she was at the right place at the right time.

That may be true, but the ball still has to go in, and the Lady Aces likely grew tired of watching the ball leave Martin's hand and going through the net.

Coach Kevin Jackson cuts down the net after winning the All A Region 3 Tournament.

Coach Kevin Jackson also credited Martin for a stellar performance.

"She was unbelievable, and she only had one turnover against this defense," he said. "She had 33 and we needed every one of them. She plays second fiddle sometimes to Caitlin, but Caitlin is an all-American within herself, but when Peyton needs to step up, she can do that as good as anybody. Tonight she had the game of her career and we needed every bit of it."

The win moves the Lady Cats into the All A State Classic which will be held at McBrayer Arena, at Eastern Kentucky University. They are scheduled to take on Monroe County in the first round on Wednesday, January 24 at 5:30pm central, 6:30pm eastern. The Edmonson Voice will have the WildcatsLive crew covering the game with audio and video streams.

The Lady Cats are now 16-3 on the season.

Also scoring for the Lady Cats was Chanley Logsdon with 6, Katlin Collins with 5 points, Emma Vincent had 2, and Lauren Ballance had 1.