Emma Landrum said the 8th Region champion Walton-Verona Bearcats did not want to see their All “A” State Sectional home game against the 7th Region champion Brown Bears from Louisville go to a shoot-out.
The senior made the most of a through ball from Olivia Sams to score the game’s lone goal, lifting the Bearcats to a 1-0 home sectional win over the Bears (7-2).
“We actually went into the second half deciding to play like we know we can,” Landrum said. “We weren’t going to panic like we did in the first half. We work on (through passes) in practice. It was a connection thing and we were all excited about it.”
Walton-Verona (11-1-2) outshot Brown, 11-6. Bearcat goalkeeper Brynn Willis made six saves. Luken credited Claire Sams and Emily Bowlin for helping slow down Brown’s speedy players including their leading goal-scorer Taylor Morris, who had 26 coming into the game. Luken also credited Macy Sawyer and Kassidy Evans for adding to the defensive effort.
“They definitely battled,” said Patrick Luken, Walton-Verona head coach. “They had three very good players. We weren’t sure how we were necessarily going to play them so we kind of got off to a slow start. We made some adjustments at halftime and were a lot more intentional in moving the ball.”
Walton-Verona won its fifth All “A” sectional tournament game in the last six years. The Bearcats won their first-ever All “A” State quarterfinal game last year and will get another chance on Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. against either 11th Region champion Sayre (6-4) or 12th Region champion Somerset (10-1), who play Thursday at Somerset.
Walton-Verona’s next game is at home against Simon Kenton (8-7) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Simon Kenton 2, Beechwood 0
The Pioneers moved above .500 on the season with the home non-region win.
Jada Johnson and Ella Smith scored the goals for the Pioneers (8-7) with Reese Johnson and Avery Spaulding assisting. Goalkeeper Fayth Tomlin had six saves.
Brooke Fowee had 12 saves for the Tigers.
Simon Kenton plays at Oldham County (6-7-1) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Beechwood (7-5-2) plays host to Scott on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Elizabethtown 1, Dixie Heights 0 (SO)
The Colonels lost the second game of the Lexington Catholic Challenge Cup in a shoot-out.
Dixie Heights (9-5) plays at 1 p.m. Saturday in the seventh place game.
Other Girls Soccer Scores
Covington Latin 2, Bellevue 1
Boone County 5, Harrison County 1
Frankfort Christian 5, Holmes 2
Holy Cross 1, Scott 1
Ryle 2, Newport Central Catholic 1
Boys Soccer
Louisville Collegiate 9, Walton-Verona 0
The Titans came up Interstate 71 and handled the Bearcats in the All “A” Section Tournament game.
Collegiate (9-1-1) put constant pressure on the Bearcats all game. Goalkeeper Sam Kunkle made 23 saves.
Walton-Verona (6-7) plays host to Grant County on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Volleyball
Scott 3, Dixie Heights 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-12)
The Eagles earned their first win on their refurbished floor, winning the rivalry game over their county foes.
“It was kind of a must-win for us. We needed this morale boost,” said Andrea Sullivan, Scott head coach. “We needed to come in and play well. With a young group trying to gel, you have to win games that you should win and I thought we did that.”
Scott (11-8) had 42 kills, 39 assists, seven aces, 41 digs, four solo blocks and 18 assisted blocks in the win. Brooklyn Helm led Scott with 15 kills, three aces and 10 digs. Milyn Minor had 13 kills with Brooke Balsley tallying nine kills to go with two solo and two assisted blocks. Ryann Grigsby had 39 assists to set up the hitters and eight digs.
“Some of the younger girls needed to step up in positions and I think they’re doing a great job,” Minor said of taking a leadership role. “You get that good leadership from being around that and it grows when (seniors) leave. You get to take off from that.”
Defensively, Elise Manhardt tied Helm with 10 digs. Morgan Justice had nine assisted blocks and one solo block with Payton Grigsby recording six assisted blocks.
Maggie Best recorded 17 kills and 12 digs with Christen Tarter digging up 19 balls for Dixie Heights (8-10). Maddie Kelly had 13 assists and nine digs with setter Riley Byrne recording seven assists. Byrne earned her 500th career assist in the loss.
Scott takes on Great Crossing (12-0) in the Cake Classic at Highlands at 7 p.m. Dixie Heights plays at Ryle (8-8) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Highlands 3, Dayton 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-8)
The Bluebirds moved above .500 with their first 36th District seed win of the year.
Highlands (9-8) had 40 kills, two assisted blocks, 39 assists, 39 digs and nine aces in the win. Annie Ellison led the Bluebirds with nine digs and three aces. Rachel Ossege and Sydney Schomaker had 18 and 12, respectively, with Ella Cox and Ava Muzumdar putting up 23 and 16 assists, respectively.
Dayton (6-13) had 17 kills, one solo block, 14 assists, 35 digs and four aces. McKenzie Sullivan led the Devils with 11 digs and Haley Leger had three aces with Haylee Reynolds tallying 11 assists.
Highlands plays host to Newport Central Catholic (7-12) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Dayton plays host to Bishop Brossart (14-4) on Monday at 7 p.m.
Walton-Verona 2, Gallatin County 0 (25-18, 25-22)
The Bearcats earned the 8th Region win on the road.
Walton-Verona (13-8) had 22 kills, 21 assists, 31 digs and 14 aces in the win. Amber Hall had 17 assists and four aces to lead the Bearcats with Bella O’Brien recording six kills and four aces. Macie Godwin had eight digs and three aces.
Walton-Verona plays in the All “A” State Tournament starting Friday at Eastern Kentucky University. The Bearcats take on 11th Region champion Sayre (13-1) at 6:45 p.m. on Court 4 in the Recreation Center then 3rd Region champion Whitesville Trinity (15-5) at 8:15 p.m. in the main McBrayer Arean Gym.
Harrison County 2, Bishop Brossart 0 (25-22, 25-15)
Brossart lost a 10th Region game for the first time this year.
The Mustangs (14-4) had 22 kills, 39 digs, 21 assists, three assisted blocks and two aces in the loss. Maddie Kremer led Brossart with eight digs and Aubrey Rebholz had 17 assists. Kate Neltner earned her 500th career kill leading the Mustangs with six. Payton Parker had five kills and two assisted blocks with and Callie Ritter had four kills. Jessica Keller and Cecilia Phirman had five digs each.
Brossart plays host to Beechwood (10-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Boone County 0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-15)
The Thoroughbreds won their second game in two days, winning a 9th Region road game.
NewCath (7-12) had 30 kills, 28 assists, 70 digs, 12 aces, three assisted blocks and three solo blocks in the win. Kori Reckers put together a solid game with 26 digs, 10 kills and 14 assists. Reese McCloskey helped control the net with seven kills, one solo block and three assisted blocks. Elena Henderson added five kills to go with two assisted blocks with Lucy Simons and Jaylee Brannen recording three each as NewCath has focused on cutting down unforced errors.
“Another thing they stepped up and did was bring the energy more consistently,” said Angie Reckers, NewCath head coach. “We’ve been struggling with not letting one mistake turn into five. We typically get down easily. That was part of gaining that momentum this week.”
Paytin Reckers led NewCath with six aces and 14 digs. Piperlyn Kramer had four aces with Simons adding two aces and six digs. Vivi Fassler had nine assists and six digs with Elise Fowler digging up five balls.
“In practice, we definitely worked on placement things for all three games this week,” Simons said. “We definitely try to be excited for every point, then also with every player if they make a mistake, bring them back up and hopefully, carry on a lead.”
NewCath heads to Highlands (9-8) on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game. Boone County (5-13) plays in the Cake Classic at Highlands starting Friday.
Other Volleyball Scores
Ryle 3, Henry Clay 0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-22)
St. Henry 2, Lloyd Memorial 0 (25-9, 25-3)
Villa Madonna 2, Newport 0 (25-8, 25-9)
