Editor’s Note: Oldham Era Sports Editor Josiah Koenig contributed to this report.
When Spencer County and three-time region champion Anderson County lost in the region quarterfinals, things really opened up in the Eighth Region girls basketball tournament at Gallatin County.
The Simon Kenton Pioneers (18-14) will be one of the teams battling for the Eighth Region championship on Sunday at 3 p.m. after the young Pioneers exploded for 24 points in the fourth quarter to down the 29th District champion South Oldham Dragons (19-9), 59-46 in the region semifinals Saturday. Simon Kenton is back in that spot for the first time since 2019 after high winds in the area delayed the tournament by a day.
The Pioneers will take on their 32nd District rival Grant County Braves (20-10) for the third time this season. Grant County won the other two meetings by a combined five points. The Braves escaped Independence with a 45-42 win Jan. 7 in the district seed game then came back to win the district championship, 47-45 on Feb. 23.
“I was an assistant for four of our five region championships. My Dad (Jeffrey) was the coach and we just carried it on,” said Brenden Stowers, Simon Kenton head coach. “We adapted to the team we have just mixing things up. Even some of our older girls were inexperienced. We just spent this whole year gaining experience. We weren’t worried about the wins until it came to tournament time. We just wanted to learn, grow and just bond together. They showed that (Saturday). That’s a big one.”
Simon Kenton had great inside-outside balance making seven three-pointers. Freshman guard/forward Anna Kelch made two on her way to 18 points and freshman forward Haylie Webb scored 13. Freshman forward/guard Megan Gadzala made three three-pointers on her way to nine points and eighth grade point guard Brynli Pernell scored eight.
“(Kelch) works her tail off,” Stowers said. “All of our girls put the work in. She’s done it. She got her opportunities and she took full advantage of it.”
South Oldham gave itself a chance hitting 15 of 19 free throws for 79 percent and four three-pointers compared to 4 for 9 for Simon Kenton for 44 percent. Junior guard Ella Morrison led the Dragons with 18 points and freshman shooting guard Madison Young made 9 of 11 free throws on her way to 15 points.
The Dragons led 10-4 early and kept it at 12-9 after the first quarter. Similar to the win over Owen County, Simon Kenton’s full-court pressure hurt South Oldham early in the second quarter allowing the Pioneers to take their first lead at 16-14 with less than five minutes to play on a Webb lay-up.
But the fouls hurt Simon Kenton later in the period. South Oldham made 8 of 9 free throws in the closing minutes to take a 26-24 halftime lead. Morrison led all scorers in the first half with 12 and Webb led Simon Kenton with 10.
The Pioneers did not lead during the third quarter until Gadzala made a three-pointer from the wing at the buzzer putting Simon Kenton up 35-33. Gadzala came into the game with 20 three-pointers made on the season.
“We had a lid there on the rim the first three quarters,” Stowers said. “We didn’t make shots. At the time, I didn’t notice it. But that shot at the end of the third quarter took the lid off. Once the first one went through, everyone got excited. It just lifted our team. Once we started making shots, they had to come out and guard us and I knew once we got to man-to-man, I knew we’d be able to take advantage of some of the things we wanted to do from the get-go. We were able to switch defenses. We were able to catch them sleeping a couple times.”
Simon Kenton carried that momentum into the fourth quarter opening with an 8-0 lead to go up 43-33 with 6:30 left in the game. Kelch scored 12 of her 18 points in the final period to put South Oldham away.
“I think it gave us a push because our energy was kind of getting low,” Gadzala said. “It encouraged us to keep working. Usually, our offense comes from our defense. So when we get a steal or something, we get it down and get a fast-break. Then we get excited.”
The 2019 Simon Kenton team lost 45-42 to Colllins in the region championship game. The Pioneers last won it in 2018, 80-68 over Anderson County for their second straight region title.
SIMON KENTON — 9-15-11-24 — 59
SOUTH OLDHAM — 12-14-7-13 — 46
Simon Kenton (59) – Kelch 18, Webb 13, Gadzala 9, Pernell 8, Eggleston 7, Flynn 3, Bach 2
South Oldham (46) – Morrison 18, Young 15, John 4, Betz 3, Richardson 3, Hall 2