The first round of the girls All “A” Classic state tournament got underway on Wednesday in Owensboro at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Three teams from Northern Kentucky were represented out of the 16 regions, qualifying by winning their respective All “A” region tournaments.
Bishop Brossart advanced with a 57-18 victory over Louisville Holy Cross while Holy Cross dropped their opener to Bethlehem, 70-64. Walton-Verona lost their opener to Danville Christian Academy, 62-31.
The boys first round gets underway Thursday. Walton-Verona, Beechwood and Bishop Brossart are in the boys tournament.
Here’s how they went down:
Bishop Brossart 57, Holy Cross (Louisville) 18
The Lady ‘Stangs forced 43 turnovers and held Holy Cross (7-10) to just six points in the second half, including a shutout in the third quarter. By the break, Brossart was well in control with a 37-12 halftime advantage.
Kylie Smith and Zoee Meyers paced the Lady ‘Stangs with 10 points apiece, nine different players entering the scoring column in the victory. Smith had eight steals, Meyers had six as they collected 30 steals as a team.
The win gets Brossart (13-4) into Friday’s quarterfinals, where they’ll face Lexington Christian Academy at 10 a.m. CST.
Bethlehem 70, Holy Cross (Covington) 64
The bid for a 3-peat for the Lady Indians was denied in a matchup that features two of the top 10 teams in the state in the opening round.
Holy Cross (18-2) had won the last two All “A” state titles, but ran into Leah Macy and company on Wednesday. The Notre Dame commit had 29 points and 19 rebounds to propel her team to victory. The Indians dug themselves in a 11-1 hole to start the game and played catch up for the majority. They were able to eventually take a two-point lead late in the third.
Tied at 53 to open the fourth, Bethlehem (14-1) opened with a 7-0 run to open the frame and hung on from there. Holy Cross had a rough shooting day, hitting 21-of-61 from the field and 4-of-24 from the 3-point line.
The Indians were led by Aniyah Carter with 28 points, Aumani Nelson added 20 and D’Myah Williams tossed in 10.
Danville Christian 62, Walton-Verona 32
The presence of Grace Mbugua, a Louisville commit, was just too much for Walton-Verona on Wednesday evening.
Mbugua had 17 points, 12 rebounds and blocked four shots as DCA (12-5) held Walton-Verona to 12-of-45 shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle 40-29. They also won in points in the paint 30-20 and 19-6 on second chance points.
The Bearcats were down 27-14 and held strong in the third at 40-26, but DCA broke the game open in the fourth by outscoring Walton 22-5.
Campbell Christy led Walton-Verona (12-6) with nine points, Ava Hargett adding eight.