Balanced scoring and a momentum swinging second quarter led Barren County’s girls’ basketball team to a 51-33, bounce-back win on Tuesday evening at Greenwood.
The Trojanettes (18-6 overall, 13-2 Region 4) led by just four after a rough opening quarter but quickly turned things around by outscoring the Lady Gators 14-5 in the second to lead by 13 at halftime. Barren kept its rhythm alive in the second half and was able to record a big road win and put last Friday’s loss to District 15 rival Glasgow in the rearview mirror.
“I thought we did a great job the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter … I thought this was one of the first times that we’ve put almost an entire game together,” Barren County coach Piper Lindsey said. “We really needed a bounce-back after Friday.”
McKenzie England led the way for the Trojanettes with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Karleigh Delk and Mallory Pedigo each finished with 10. Additionally, Jalynn Bush added seven.
“We don’t really know who’s going to step up,” Lindsey said. “McKenzie was big inside for us, which is somebody that we need to have contribute. I thought she was solid.”
The two sides struggled to get their offenses going early on.
Barren County held a slim 10-6 lead after the first quarter, as it and Greenwood were shooting a combined 7-of-25 from the field. Unlike the Gators, the Trojanettes discovered their usual offensive rhythm in the ensuing period.
Powered by Delk’s eight points and a much better shooting quarter overall, Barren outscored the Lady Gators 14-5 in the second and built a 24-11 lead at halftime. Delk was leading the Trojanettes with those eight points at the break, while England had seven.
“She’s one that gets out and runs,” Lindsey said of Delk. “She’s quick, she’s athletic and she’s got great hands. She did a good job there – back-to-back-to-back it seemed like. That was a big lift for us.”
Jaqueline Jackson was leading Greenwood with six points, and she finished with 15 to carry the Lady Gators (9-12, 5-11).
“I thought we did a great job defensively,” Lindsey said. “Our team man-to-man defense that we talk about. We ran in transition. 17 assists – I thought we shared the ball extremely well, and we rebounded well.”
It continued to be all Barren County throughout the second half.
The Trojanettes pushed their advantage to 38-18 with just under two minutes remaining in the third after England scored inside. Eve Jackson’s three just before the buzzer sent Barren into the fourth quarter up 44-18.
Barren County used that comfortable lead and cruised through the final eight minutes.
“I feel good (about the team),” said Lindsey. “I told the girls that we’ve been talking about ‘let’s bounce back,’ and ‘let’s come back to us’ because we’ve played up and down a little bit. ‘Let’s take off and continue to get better.’”
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
