The McCracken County Lady Mustangs have been preparing from preseason tip-off for another chance at a KHSAA State Championship at Rupp Arena. After falling 68-53 in the title game to Sacred Heart, the First Region leaders have had their sights back on the big stage.
From the get-to, the Lady Mustangs took on a rematch, hosting the Valkyries in a preseason scrimmage. They would go on to play teams including Henderson County, Bethlehem, Owensboro, Cooper, and Bowling Green in the regular season. Each of those previous opponents will be in Lexington fighting for their own chance at a state title.
“We try to put these girls in a position to play a very tough schedule,” McCracken County head coach Scott Sivills said. “I really believe that you need to have a tough schedule going forward if you want to compete and do well in the postseason.”
Out of those top teams in the state, the Lady Mustangs went 3-and-3, defeating Bethlehem 81-62 in the third game of the season, beating Owensboro 62-52 the following game and Bowling Green just before Christmas break, 46-30. They fell to Henderson County 61-53 in the second game of the season, lost to Cooper 50-38 and Bowling Green later in the season 53-50.
“If you get to the state tournament, every team is going to be tough,” Sivills said.
And that statement is just as true as ever.
With a record of 29-5, the Lady Mustangs are tied for the third most wins out of their fellow Sweet 16 opponents and have the third fewest losses.
Getting to this point in the year comes after defeating Graves County in the First Region Championship, 51-35 on Saturday afternoon, a team that handed them their fourth loss just one month prior.
When it comes to getting to this point in the season, Coach Sivills says he tries to keep the game plan as simple as possible.
“We really do our best to try and keep everything simple,” Sivills said. “Just play off of our God-Given abilities and we’ve done that. We’ve had some really good kids the last few years to be able to put a plan together.”
One such ‘really good kid’ is First Region Player of the Year, Claire Johnson. The Miss Basketball Candidate has made a name for herself since her eighth grade year. This year however, Johnson is putting up 22.9 points per game and has tallied 778 points through all 34 games played. She is shooting 57.5% from the field and 33.1% from downtown and 83.4% from the foul line.
Fellow senior Mikee Buchanan follows with 507 points on the year for 14.9 points per game. She’s averaging 46.8% from the floor, 34.4% from downtown and 80.9% from the charity stripe.
Coach Sivills says that high level of play from his leaders have been the expectation for the last three years.
“That’s been the expectation of them for the past three years. I think Mikee has had to take on more of a scoring role this year because of the type of team we had the last two years,” Sivills said. “Mikee has also done more from a leadership role; her and Claire both. I really enjoy watching those two kids plays. They have a great basketball IQ, they have a calmness about them on the floor that keeps their teammates around them also calm in tough situations.”
Of course, it takes more than two to win a basketball game. And that was proved over the weekend as key role players stepped up in the First Region tournament to make their mark on the season.
“We’ve had other kids besides Mikee and Claire really step up,” Sivills said. “Jayden Skaggs, Reagan Hill and Ava Hughes, those three gave us a big lift in our championship game this past Saturday night and all of last week. I’m really looking forward to seeing how those kids play on the big stage.”
Skaggs, Hill and Hughes showed they are just as valuable to the Lady Mustangs squad as anyone else, playing critical roles in advancing in the regional tournament and ultimately winning it.
Senior Skaggs led all scorers in that region title game, knocking down 16 points including four 3-pointers to boost the Lady Mustangs. Sophomore Hill and eighth grader Hughes put up nine and eight points respectively in that game over Graves. Hill also dominated earlier in the tournament, dropping 14 points on Marshall County in the opening game.
On the year, Hughes has tallied 213 points for 6.9ppg, Hill follows with 159 and 4.7ppg and Skaggs has 148 points for 4.5ppg.
McCracken County will get their Sweet 16 journey underway on Wednesday when they take on Russell High School (28-6). The Sixteenth Region Champs are coming off a similar win as the Lady Mustangs, taking down Body County 50-38.
“We are playing a team that is kind of like us in a lot of ways in the way that we play,” Sivills said. “They have a very good player in (Shaelyn) Steele who does some super things. She’s an incredible player, so we know our first matchup is going to be very tough.”
Steele currently leads her team with 725 points for 21.3ppg, shoots 42.4% from the floor and 32% from distance and 76.7% from the stripe. Teammate Bella Quinn joins her in double-digit averages with 10.3ppg for a total of 351 points on the season.
That opening round matchup will have a 12:30 p.m. CST time tip-off at Rupp Arena in Lexington.