With performances of 39 and 25 points apiece from seniors Claire Johnson and Mikee Buchanan, it's hard to stop the McCracken County Lady Mustangs. That was the case Saturday morning in the KHSAA Sweet 16 semifinal matchup when McCracken County advanced past Butler 74-57.
"I thought Claire Johnson played a Miss Basketball type of game," McCracken County head coach Scott Sivills said. "This kid can play. She can score at all three levels and she's a competitor."
Getting to that 39-point needed an excellent shooting game. She shot 13-of-19 shooting, 5-of-6 from deep and 8-of-9 from the line all while battling through more than her fair share of bumps and bruises from the past three games.
Those bumps and bruises couldn't stop her though as she added some more throughout the contest Saturday morning. Johnson would get things going with a personal 7-0 run in the early
Forcing turnovers was the name of the game for the Lady Mustangs as the length from both seniors and the quickness of Ava Hughes would disrupt the Butler motion and lead to fast break buckets.
"In this tournament it's very important to get off to a very good start," Sivills said. "Getting off to that start at the very beginning of the game set the tone for us."
McCracken would close out the first quarter up 21-5 with Johnson controlling 18 of those points.
Butler would find their much needed groove in the second quarter as Johnson was handed her third foul and pulled with 5:58 still to play in the half. The Bearettes would fight back from down 17 points and cut it to just a 7-point deficit at the half, down just 35-28.
With Johnson on the bench, Buchanan stepped up, dropping 11 in the second, with Reagan Hill adding a bucket and Lezharia Bolen sinking a free throw.
"Mikee Buchanan, (her and Claire) are like Batman and Robin," Sivills said. "Mikee is a college player, somebody is going to get an incredible kid and an incredible player. When Claire got in foul trouble we had to make her our point guard and she handled that the right way and made some big plays for us."
A powerhouse for Butler was the center, Ramiya White who used her height advantage over everybody on the court to tally 18 points for the Bearettes. She would have her way early on, until sophomore Reagan Hill fronted her on defense to limit the inside looks.
"We thought Reagan Hill defended the low post in the second half very well," Sivills said. "We had to be more tough in the post and we go that and we found a way to get back to the championship game for back-to-back years."
Getting there remained tough for the Lady Mustangs in the second half as Butler continued to bring the pressure, making McCracken work for every possession.
Johnson came back into play in the second half where she would get right back to where she left off, dumping another 21 points through the net throughout the second half
"I didn't feel like it was going to be anything crazy today," Johnson said on her 39-point performance. "I knew I was tired and that I was battling through some pain, but it was just super exciting to come out and play that well especially to get to the championship. I'm just so excited that my team gets to experience that type of fun."
This will be the second straight appearance in the KHSAA girls State Championship for the Lady Mustangs after falling 68-53 to Sacred Heart in the title game last year.
"We have to leave it all out on the floor, that's for sure," Buchanan said. "It's been great playing with everybody and we just need to remember who we have been playing for and that's each other."
Tip-off for that championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. EST against the reigning champions for the past three years, Sacred Heart.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 21 14 16 23 - 74
BUTLER 5 23 19 10 - 57
MCHS: C. Johnson 39, M. Buchanan 25, A. Hughes 5, Reagan Hill 4, L. Bolen 1, A. Word 1, J. Skaggs 1.
BUTLER: R. White 18, M. Knight 14, M. Patrick 12, I. Robinson 6, A. Russell 5, M. Alexander 2