Maybe it was the suddenness of George Rogers Clark’s offensive attack.
It might have been the stickiness of the Cardinals’ full-court presses.
Whatever reason you chose Monday, the end of Scott’s season was certain. The two-time defending girls 10th Region champion Cardinals had just about no trouble dispatching the Eagles with a running-clock 61-33 win in the region quarterfinals at Bourbon County High School.
GRC’s Jailenn Green, who averaged 10.4 points going into Monday, doubled that coming off the bench – her 21 points led all scorers and included three 3-pointers.
“I’ve been in the gym over the weekend, and I had to find my shot again,” Green said.
Monday was also the third time Scott (17-14) scored 33 points in a game –the others were a 63-33 loss to Holy Cross on Dec. 9 and a 33-30 win over Bishop Brossart in the 37th District tournament Feb. 27 at Campbell County Middle School – and the 11th time the Eagles tallied 40 or fewer.
If predicting what would happen was your thing, there were portents aplenty.
Going into Monday, GRC had allowed just 39.6 points a game, probably with a combination of 2-2-1 and 2-1-1-1 full-court presses. Scott struggled – two turnovers in less than 30 seconds of the opening frame.
“You can’t mimic that pressure and how quick they move to the basketball,” Scott coach Eric Pouncy Jr. said. “When you think an open area is there, then you make that pass, and someone comes out of nowhere.”
Here’s how the Cardinals capitalized: Kennedy Stamper’s bucket, Teigh Yeast’s three from the left wing, and three Makili Tabor free throws.
That’s GRC, 8-0, in just 57 seconds.
“I feel like we communicate as a team, and we play our role(s) as a team,” Green said.
Even when things didn’t go the Cardinals’ way, it turned out well. With 6:04 to go in the first, Khania Jones corralled a loose ball and put in the layup.
People of an elderly age might remember “Basketball Jones,” the 1973 Cheech Marin tune in which a youngster craves hoops more than anything. Monday, the Cardinals’ Jones stole the ball and cruised untouched for a layup.
The score: Cardinals, 12-0, 4:59 left in the first.
“I feel like we started off panicked, and we had a lot of turnovers early,” Scott guard Noelle Price said.
Price led Scott with eight points.
Scott had a Nakiah Mejia mini-run a couple minutes later – four points, including a run-out layup of Kaia Peterson’s defensive rebound. Her free throw in the second quarter prevented a shutout.
Even the bounces went GRC’s way. Late in the second quarter, Green’s 3-pointer clanked twice on the rim before going in.
Mejia and Kaia Peterson added seven points each.
GRC (28-4) meets Mason County, a 56-52 winner over Nicholas County, in Friday’s semifinals at 6 p.m.
Seniors Madeleine Spencer and Brianna Hall finished their high school careers. Spencer was happiest just to be playing.
“I’ve torn both ACLs,” Spencer said. “I tore one at the end of my freshman year and the other at the end of my junior year. So, I didn’t get to play AAU this year, so school season was my first one back.”
CARDINALS 61, EAGLES 33
SCOTT 8 1 11 13 – 33
GRC 23 19 8 11 – 61
Scott (33) — Price 8, Mejia 7, Sanders 3, Kaia Peterson 7, Kourtney Peterson 5, Hall 3. 3-Pt. FG: 3 (Price, Hall, Kaia Peterson). FT: 9-15. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.
George Rogers Clark (61) — Stamper 4, Yeast 9, Green 21, Stakelin 1, Jones 8, Goodwin 2, Tabor 3, Chestnut 8, Miller 5. 3-Pt. FG: 7 (Green 3, Chestnut 2, Yeast, Miller). FT: 8-11. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
Records: Scott 17-14, George Rogers Clark 28-4.