The girls First Region Tournament kicked off from the CFSB Center on Monday evening, as the McCracken County Lady Mustangs took on the Mayfield Lady Cardinals in a first round matchup. A solid defensive effort would make the difference for the Lady Mustangs, as they staved off a fourth quarter surge from the Lady Cardinals to advance with a 34-24 victory.
“I’m really proud of how resilient we were defensively all night...Our goal is to play solid defense, make teams uncomfortable, and I thought we did that tonight,” McCracken County head coach Scott Sivills said following the win. “We did an excellent job of limiting their possessions, getting key rebounds at key times, and turning that into points when we had to have them. Bottom line, it’s survive and advance. We didn’t play our best offensively, it was back-and-forth at times, but the goal was to survive, to find a way, and we did.”
Ava Hughes would lead the scoring for the Lady Mustangs on the night, picking up 21 points. To round out the scoring for McCracken, Abby Casebier would have four, while Skater Houser, Reagan Hill, and Reagan Hill would each record three.
“We just found ways to make big plays when we needed to tonight. Abby stepped up and made some big shots when we had to have them, and Ava did a good job of getting into the defense and making her shots for us,” Sivills continued. “Ava’s been in these types of games before, she’s played in a state championship game. She’s a real hooper who knows how to play the game, likes the pressure, and really stepped up for us tonight.”
Across the floor, Lay Mayes led the way for Mayfield with 13 points, while Lex Feagin finished her night with eight.
While Mayfield got on the board early through Feagin, points would be at a premium across the first quarter, with nearly six minutes between baskets for the Lady Cardinals. In the midst of their drought, the Lady Mustangs would carve out a lead, with Hughes and Hill combining for an 8-0 run. Feagin would also close the scoring in the first, knocking down a late three to cut into the lead, as the Lady Cardinals trailed 8-5 through eight minutes.
The two teams would stay locked in a defensive battle through much of the second. The Lady Mustang defense would hold Mayfield without a field goal across the quarter, with a pair of threes from Houser and Word bolstering the lead. Four points from the foul line would keep the Lady Cardinals afloat heading to halftime, as McCracken would take a 16-9 lead into the break.
While the Lady Cardinals would start the second half strong, notching four quick points, those four would be the only points they would record on the third. On the back of another strong defensive quarter, the Lady Mustangs would begin to pull away over the length of the third. 10 unanswered points would open the evening’s largest lead heading to the fourth, at 26-13.
In need of a late rally, the Lady Cardinals would turn to Lay Mayes throughout the fourth for production. Mayes would spark a bit of a run for Mayfield, scoring all 11 points of an 11-2 run, which saw the Lady Cardinals pull within four points with just over a minute to play. However, four would be as close as the score would come. Across the final minute, with both teams in the bonus, the Lady Mustangs would be clinical from the foul line. A 6-for-6 stretch for seal the game for McCracken, as they advanced to the semi-final round with a final score of 34-24.
With the win, the Lady Mustangs will move on to face Marshall County in the semi-final, following their victory over Fulton County in the evening’s later tip-off.
“We’ll takes these next few days, get a game plan together, and see what happens from here,” Sivills concluded. “It’s going to be a tough matchup. We’re going to need to step up, play four complete quarters, and be able to make plays at both ends of the floor. That’s going to be the key for us.”
Tip-off between the Lady Mustangs and Lady Marshals is set for 6 p.m. this Friday, back at the CFSB Center.