By JAMES BROWN
WCLU Sports
The 15th District is stamped in Barren County burgundy and gold. The Trojanettes have won eight of the last night district tournaments, including Thursday night, 63-58, over Allen County-Scottsville.
Barren’s only non-title season came two years ago when the Lady Patriots pulled off a stunning first-round upset. Thursday’s game looked as if the Trojanettes were going to continue their dominance over the Lady Patriots this season, but then it looked as if Avery Morris might provide her team another upset.
Barren entered the second quarter with a five-point lead, 13-8, and began to pull away in that quarter. With 3:34 left in the second, Mahalia Burton hit a shot that was the start of a 12-2 run the rest of the half.
A minute after Burton’s shot, Shelby Byrd put back an offensive rebound, and a minute after that she hit a shot in the lane to push the Trojanettes ahead 27-15. Layla Harris hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute of the half, and that set Barren up 33-17 at the break.
The Trojanettes opened the second half with a 6-2 run, took a 21-point lead, and looked well on their way to another 20-plus point win over the Lady Patriots. (They won 62-41 on Dec. 18, and 75-45 on Feb. 7.)
But the game turned from there.
Morris, Allen’s leading scorer, posted only 10 points in the first half. She scored 29 in the second half.
“She’s that good,” Trojanettes coach Piper Lindsey said. “She made big time shots. When somebody makes six threes like that, I felt like we were there for the most part. She got a little bit of space and that’s all she needs.”
Morris’s take over began with 4:50 left in the third when she hit a shot in the lane. She scored 13 of the game’s next 25 points.
“I thought Shelby did a really good job on her, but I didn’t want her to pick up any more fouls,” Lindsey said. She added they rotated other defenders on Morris, including Burton and Ann Ashley Atkinson.
Barren still led by double digits, 48-36, headed into the fourth quarter, but Allen continued to rally.
The Lady Patriots outscored the Trojanettes 15-6 through the first five minutes of the fourth. The lead was down to three points, 54-51, with 3:03 left in the game, but that was as close as Allen’s rally came to fruition.
Byrd responded with an and-1 with 2:49 to go. Morris was fouled shooting a 3-pointer 28 seconds later and made all three freebies.
Byrd hit a jumper with 1:45 left in the game, then Debora Patrick made a shot inside for Allen with 1:16 showing on the game clock.
The Trojanettes ran a stall offense, which resulted in the Lady Patriots being forced to foul. Barren hit 4 of 6 foul shots in the final minute, but its defense did not give up another good shot until Morris hit a basket with 11 seconds left.
“I keep going back to our team. … She might be the better player, but we proved that we’re the better team tonight,” Lindsey said.
Morris finished the game with 39 points. Barren booked three players in double figures and one a point short. Byrd led with 16, while Burton posted 13 points, Atkinson scored 10, and Addyson McFall finished with nine.
Patrick, who is Allen’s second leading scorer, was held to six. She didn’t get her first field goal until fourth quarter.
“I thought our bigs did an incredible job on Patrick,” Lindsey said. “I think Hannah Bragg and Riley Wilson played incredible. I think she only had two offensive boards, and that was one of the things that we talked about.”
The draw for the Girls Fourth Region Tournament is Friday morning. The tournament tips Sunday at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
Lindsey said she was happy her team won the district title, and that the championship game was as tough as it was.
“I think it is going to be better in the long run to have a close game like this,” she said, “to understand when they start to battle back, that we know how to… extend that lead … and get big stops when we need it.”
Barren improved to 29-2 with the win, while Allen fell to 21-8.
SCORING
Byrd, 16; Burton, 13; Atkinson, 10; McFall, 9; Harris, 6; Addy Slagle, 5; Wilson, 2; Bragg, 2.
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