Sacred Heart, McCracken County set to meet in Girls' Sweet 16 championship
And then were two…
On Saturday, the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament semifinals took place inside Rupp Arena with a shot at the Kentucky state championship on the line. Up first was a highly-anticipated showdown between nationally-ranked Sacred Heart and George Rogers Clark, which came down to the wire and lived up to the hype. SHA was able to sneak away with the win to make its third consecutive title game.
Shortly after, McCracken County and Henderson County went head-to-head in a matchup that wasn’t nearly as close. McCracken County led from the onset and had no trouble locking up its berth in the championship game set for Saturday evening.
Sacred Heart and McCracken County will meet at 7:00 PM later tonight in downtown Lexington to crown a state champion.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was submitted by freelance writer Alyx White, who has extensive knowledge in covering KY high school girls’ basketball. She is also one of two hosts for KSR’s women’s basketball podcast, the Know Her Name Podcast, which covers Kentucky women’s hoops. Alyx will assist in KSR’s coverage of the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament this week. You can follow her on Twitter: @alyxwhite_*
Bender’s 21 Second-Half Points Lead SHA Back to Championship
The semifinals kicked off with one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament. Two of the teams that have remained at the top of the rankings all season long, Sacred Heart (34-3) and George Rogers Clark (28-7), were set to play for a spot in the championship game.
While Sacred Heart went into this game undefeated against in-state competition, GRC was the team that gave them the biggest scare all season long. When they met in February, the Valkyries only won by a single point.
As soon as the first whistle blew, it was clear that the Cardinals wanted revenge for that loss. After 8th grader Kennedy Stamper and freshman Anaya Chestnut each knocked down two three-pointers in the opening quarter, GRC gained a one-point edge going into the second quarter.
Sacred Heart’s five-star sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson was determined to keep her team in the game, already eclipsing double-digit points a little over one minute into the second period. When senior Brianna Byars picked up her second personal foul around that same time, it looked like the Valkyries might go on a run as they reclaimed the lead. However, Byars came back into the game and immediately scored four points of her own.
While the start of the game was full of scoring, the end of the half wasn’t great for either team. Sacred Heart committed four turnovers in the last five minutes and had three starters with two personal fouls. George Rogers Clark had three turnovers in the final minutes and went on a three-minute scoring drought. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a one-point game at the half as GRC led SHA, 23-22.
After Byars immediately scored for GRC to start the second half and Johnson followed on the other end with a bucket of her own, it looked like things were going to pick up exactly where they left off.
Things were back and forth until the Valkyries jumped out to a seven-point lead. While SHA controlled the lead from that point on, GRC did fight back. Freshman Annette Miller hit a three at the end of the quarter to cut the Valkyries’ lead to one.
The back-and-forth continued in the fourth quarter until Sacred Heart junior Reagan Bender hit a three-pointer with six minutes remaining. Bender, who was held scoreless in the first half, had 21 points in the second half alone. The Valkyries kept the lead from there, ultimately earning a spot in their third straight championship game.
Despite what most would call an “off” game, ZaKiyah Johnson led Sacred Heart with 22 points and 10 rebounds. 2023 Miss Kentucky Basketball candidate and Cincinnati commit, Brianna Byars, led GRC with 23 points while her sister, sophomore Ciara Byars, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Sacred Heart and head coach Donna Moir now look to be the only school and coach to ever win back-to-back-to-back state titles on two different occasions (SHA won three straight in 2002, 2003, and 2004).
McCracken County Advances to Title in Commanding Fashion
Much like the first semifinal game, the second also included two teams that had already played each other this season: McCracken County (34-2) and Henderson County (28-4). Unlike the first game, that matchup occurred at the very beginning of the season and resulted in the Lady Mustangs handing the Lady Colonels their first loss of the year. Fast forward to March and they were set to face off again, this time for a spot in the KHSAA Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 championship game.
After McCracken County got off to a hot start, the Lady Mustangs never relented. They immediately went on a 12-0 run and held Henderson County to only three total points in the opening quarter. The Lady Mustangs’ point guard, junior Claire Johnson, scored the first seven points of the game and led all scorers with nine points going into the second quarter.
The Lady Colonels started showing some life in the second frame after coming up with back-to-back baskets from seniors Savannah Lacer and Graci Risley, but the Lady Mustangs responded with back-to-back buckets of their own to extend the lead back out to 16 points.
Henderson County finished the quarter with a 4-0 run, but the deficit was still 14 points at the break. Johnson had outscored the Lady Colonels’ entire offense at one point as she finished the half with 13 points.
While Lady Colonels senior Jarie Thomas had a huge second-half performance, it wasn’t enough to get her team back into the game as the Mustangs continued to dominate. The lead got as high as 28 points in the third quarter as Johnson and senior Destiny Thomas continued to have big games.
Give Henderson County credit as they continued to fight, cutting the lead down to 14 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game, but McCracken County ultimately hung on to win, 57-40.
McCracken County was led by Claire Johnson with 25 points and Destiny Thomas with 17 points. Henderson County’s Jarie Thomas finished with 17 points to lead her team.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard