Sacred Heart survives Marshall County to win 2021 KHSAA Girl's Sweet 16 Tournament

To cap off an unbelievably thrilling week at Rupp Arena, Sacred Heart and Marshall County battled in what was arguably the toughest and most exciting game of the entire tournament.

But one team had to come out on top, and the Sacred Heart Academy Valkyries (24-7) won a tightly contested matchup against the Marshall County Lady Marshals in the championship bout of the 2021 KHSAA Girl’s Sweet 16 on Saturday night, taking home the title trophy by a final score of 49-47. The game came down to the closing seconds, as Marshall County couldn’t get off a good look at the final buzzer.

Sacred Heart’s Josie Gilvin was named the tournament MVP, finishing off her excellent run with four points, eight rebounds, five assists, five blocks, and five steals on Saturday night. Her teammates, Triniti Ralston (18 points, four rebounds, and four assists) and Alexandra Wolff (10 points and four rebounds) were named to the All-Tournament team for the Valkyries.

Out of the gates, the game began as close as the final score would later indicate. Halle Langhi punched first for Marshall County, thanks to a beautiful feed from Cayson Conner before Wolff came right back to get Sacred Heart on the scoreboard. From there, both sides were off to the races.

A 3-pointer from Ralston broke the early tie, putting the Valkyries ahead 5-2 but a layup from Conner shortly after kept Marshall County neck-and-neck. A fastbreak layup from Sacred Heart’s Raegan Bender gave her squad a 10-5 advantage with roughly two minutes left in the first quarter. However, Langhi and Conner scored back-to-back buckets for the Lady Marshals and it was a 10-9 score in favor of Sacred Heart. A pair of free throws from Gilvin put the Valkyries in front 12-9 after the opening eight minutes of action.

Wolff got the scoring going in the second quarter for either team, drilling a jump shot two-plus minutes into the period as Sacred Heart took control, 14-9. But Conner came right back to find Langhi for another pretty finish before taking matters into her own hands a couple of possessions later, converting on a tough and-1 fastbreak layup at the rim. Conner’s three-point play would tie the game up at 14 after three minutes had elapsed. Wolff wasted no time countering, hitting another jumper in the paint to give Sacred Heart back the lead at 16-14.

Langhi would score the next time down the floor for Marshall County before both sides traded triples to tie it again at 19 apiece. Another bucket from Bender and two more free throws from Conner knotted the score at 21 but Gilvin added a layup before Ralston drilled a triple with 15 seconds left until the halftime break to give Sacred Heart the lead at the intermission, 26-22.

A 3 for Triniti Ralston gives Sacred Heart a 26-22 halftime lead over Marshall County. ⁦@KySportsRadio⁩ ⁦@BluegrassBball⁩ ⁦@rezinc⁩ ⁦@ryanlemond⁩ pic.twitter.com/lRoV7b0yWu

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) April 11, 2021

 

It was an even matchup throughout the first two quarters but neither side was able to hit the other in the mouth. Marshall County managed to strike first and it came at a key time. Right out of the locker room, the Lady Marshals rattled off an 8-0 that gave the team its first lead since it was 2-0 in the opening frame. Jada Driver scored the first two buckets in the third for Marshall County as Langhi and Conner added two more baskets.

Conner’s fastbreak layup to cap off the 8-0 stretch put her squad ahead 30-26, although the run would end there. A timely jumper from Ralston brought Sacred Heart within two but Marshall County was able to push the lead back to five points at 33-28.

Ralston had the clutch answer drilling a shot from deep that cut it down to just a two-point contest halfway through the third frame. Bender would tie the game up at 33 all before Angelina Pelayo put the Valkyries ahead 35-33 after a made shot in the paint.

Marshall County would respond in the final two minutes, scoring four consecutive points to regain the lead at the end of the third quarter, 37-35. With just eight minutes left to decide a state champion, Sacred Heart put the pressure on the Lady Marshals from the jump. A massive triple from Ralston was followed up by a Bender layup to give the Valkyries a 40-37 advantage not even 60 seconds into the frame.

But the Lady Marshals refused to go away. Sophie Galloway hit back-to-back bank shots in the paint to put Marshall County ahead 41-40, but Wolff scored under 10 seconds later to put Sacred Heart back in front.

Marshall County created a tiny three-point cushion with about five minutes to go that they would ride until 2:33 left in the game when Ralston was fouled on a 3-point shot, hitting all three freebies to knot the game at 47. Neither side would score for the following 90 seconds until a tip-in shot from Wolff gave the Valkyries the minor 49-47 advantage with just 55 ticks in regulation.

Marshall County would have multiple looks in the closing moments to try and tie or take the lead, but the defense from Sacred Heart prevented any easy looks. The Lady Marshals couldn’t even get off a shot attempt before the clock struck zero, collapsing on each other at halfcourt right after the final buzzer blasted throughout Rupp Arena.

There was some controversy right before the final play, though, as a foul could have called at halfcourt that would have put Marshall County at the free-throw line down two with just a few seconds remaining. However, the refs decided to let the play go on. Here’s what happened.

Here's video of that final sequence.

Down 49-47 with 1.3 seconds left, Marshall County had one last chance to try to win the state championship against Sacred Heart. Marshall County's Cayson Conner was knocked down while trying to catch the inbounds pass, but no foul was called. pic.twitter.com/3HA37yS8Nj

— Jeff Bidwell (@AKAJeffBidwell) April 11, 2021

The whistles stayed quiet and Sacred Heart claims the state title. Valkyries head coach, Donna Moir, won her 701st career game, which she said was infinitely more exciting than the nerve-racking 700th victory earlier in the day. Sacred Heart won despite shooting 10 percent worse from the field than Marshall County, making up for it with a plus-nine advantage in points off of turnovers.

Conner finished with 16 points, four rebounds, and six assists for Marshall County while Langhi added 19 points and seven boards. Both players, along with teammate Layne Pea, were named to the All-Tournament Team.