Bishop Brossart’s girls basketball team celebrated Hadley Eviston’s 17th birthday Thursday with postgame sugar cookies.
The only thing sweeter was what the Lady ‘Stangs did on the court. They won the 10th Region All “A” title over Nicholas County, 61-55, at Bracken County.
Brossart meets Fifth Region champion Green County in the state “A” at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
You almost expect Brossart to win the trophy and cut down the nets – Thursday’s win was Brossart’s (16-1) 19th small-school regional title. For Lady ‘Stangs coach Aaron Stamm, however, it was something new.
“I know it’s an expectation here at Brossart, to be in this game every year, but it’s not a guarantee,” Stamm said. “You’ve got to work hard, and these girls have had experience winning this thing. So it’s a little sweeter for me, I guess, but these girls, they deserve it.”
Seniors Rachel Shewmaker and Luciana Guidugli prepared Stamm over the summer.
“We definitely talked before the season with him, and we talked about how this was one of our goals to achieve,” Shewmaker said.
Kylie Smith led Brossart with 21 points. Lilee Meyers was next with 15, and Greylee Kramer added 10.
Thursday’s first quarter was noteworthy for its lack of early scoring – Nicholas County (10-7) led by just 6-2 after nearly four minutes. It was a matter of the Lady Jackets knocking down 3s (Zoe Brown hit two) to Smith and Shewmaker making layups.
Nicholas County opened with a 2-3 zone to contain Smith.
“We wanted to go to a zone … to keep her out of the middle,” Lady Jackets coach Reesa Martin said. “And then we had to match up with No. 44 (Kramer) because we knew she can shoot it.”
Hitting 3s was a mini-trend the rest of the quarter – Maggie Simons, whose 26 points led all scorers – converted a Sidney Sexton steal for a long, far one from the left corner, which helped the Lady Jackets take an 18-13 lead after one quarter.
“We came together, and instead of taking the first shot, we waited to take the right shot,” Smith said. “So eventually they started going in, and we got our rhythm.”
Whatever Stamm said worked. Smith’s seven points in less than a minute – two free throws, a steal and layup and a left-wing 3 – led a 10-5 run.
“We probably missed seven or eight layups in the first half, and we usually do a pretty good job of making our layups,” Stamm said.
Simons battled double-teams all night; sometimes it was Shewmaker and Smith, other times it was Shewmaker and Kramer or Meyers.
Two Brossart stops stood out.
With less than two minutes to go in the third, Avery Wietholter’s rebound and pass to Smith started a 3-on-1 runout, which Smith converted with a layup and free throw. The second, Smith’s takeaway from Simons and Greylee Kramer’s layup, tied the game at 45-all and started a 9-4 run.
“Honestly, I think we got tired,” Martin said. “That was the hardest game I’ve seen us play all season. I think we played, I want to say eight girls, and most of my five starters played the entire game.”
Before meeting Green County, Brossart hosts Simon Kenton on Saturday and returns to Bracken County for an MLK Classic game against Mason County on Monday. Stamm said he’s along for the ride.
“I’m just riding in their journey,” Stamm said. “… I’m just a co-pilot in their journey here.”
LADY ‘STANGS 61, LADY JACKETS 55
BISHOP BROSSART — 13-18-12-18 – 61
NICHOLAS COUNTY — 18-13-11-13 – 55
Bishop Brossart (61) — Meyers 15, Guidugli 3, Smith 21, Hadley Eviston 3, Shewmaker 7, Kramer 10, Wieltholter 2. 3-Pt. FG: 5 (Kramer 2, Meyers, Guidugli, Smith). FT: 15-21. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.
Nicholas Co. (55) — Simons 26, Z. Brown 8, Anderson 2, R. Brown 7, Orazen 4, Sexton 8. 3-Pt. FG: 6 (Simons 3, Z. Brown 2, R. Brown). FT: 13-16. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: V. Dunn.
Records: Bishop Brossart 16-1, Nicholas County 10-7.