The first year I began seriously shooting and covering high school basketball in the 5th Region area was 2005 and one date I will always remember is March 7th, 2005 because to many in the 17th District Girls Basketball that date will always be remembered as “BLACK MONDAY.”
That was because in the 5th Region Girls Basketball Tournament which was held at Marion County’s Robey Dome, the two representatives of the 17th District both played in the quarterfinals that night and were eliminated, but in different fashion. If you have never been there, the Robey Dome is a marvelous structure with a high ceiling and sound stays inside very well so when large crowds are present, it’s ampified. I’ve covered many events there since, but this was only the second time I had been there including the first round the previous week when both Central and North played for the first round of the Region Tourney.
The 17th District has always had a reputation for strong Girls Basketball teams and that season was no exception. In fact, you could have made an argument that the third best team (which wouldn’t get a chance to participant in the Region could have made a serious run for all the marbles as well. In this case that was Elizabethtown, which had three six footers on the roster and were nationally ranked in the preseason, but were actually eliminated in the quarterfinals of the District Tournament the previous week in an overtime thriller. Whatever the case, both Central Hardin and North Hardin were the survivors that made the final cut and would play for the chance to go to the KHSAA Girls State Tournament.
Both the Lady Bruins and the Lady Trojans had very strong teams with good defensive personalities and had great coaching (Terry Buckles and Tony Perkins), so to many of the so called experts, the Region Tournament was just an exercise that both teams would have to endure until they met in the Championship for a fourth and decisive meeting. Central Hardin and North Hardin kept up their end of the bargain by winning their first round games over both Adair County and Taylor County so coming into Monday Night, I really thought there wasn’t any team out their that could matchup well with either.
Unfortunately, Washington County and Nelson County had other ideas.
In game one, the Lady Commanderettes, who had squeaked by Caverna in the first round by a point clamped down on the Lady Bruins powerful inside game, put them in an early six point hole and forced Central Hardin to play catchup. Washington County, a team which had struggled in the first month of the season, played an aggressive style of play which took away the rebounding skills of Tiffany Gilpin, Debra Linder and Michael Meiller and forced Lady Bruin guards Kylie Brady and Samantha Sheeran into making tough decisions. Central Hardin might have been defending Region Champions and both Brady and Sheeran would eventually be All Area guards, but as sophomores against a team which had height and experience, it was a learning experience at the wrong time. The Washington County jumped out to a quick 17-9 lead in the first quarter, but Central Hardin had experienced early deficits this season before and fought hard the rest of the way. The Lady Bruins pulled within 38-32 early in the third quarter, but everytime they got close, Washington County had an answer. There was one point late in the fourth quarter where the Lady Commanderettes had a six point lead and were at the free throw line. A miss could allow Central Hardin an opportunity to cut into the deficit even further. As the shooter took her place at the line, Central Hardin guard Lauren Flood screamed to her teammates “Block Out.” Unfortunately, a missed shot turned into a putback and a foul on a Lady Bruin defender, who was a bit late getting to the ball. Washington County made the bonus shot and went up by nine. From that point on, Washington County’s duo of Brittney Edelen and Kate Filiatreau (the two combined for 44-points between them) took control of the rest of the game. The final 65-55 Washington County win looked like the first domino to fall for the 17th District, but it also opened the door for North Hardin, who now only had to beat Nelson County to reach the final.
After watching the Lady Bruin defeat, I remember thinking that Central Hardin I believed was a tougher matchup for North Hardin because they matched up well against them and facing them twice during the regular season every season gives you an advantage if your drawing up a game plan against a team. Also, Central Hardin had split with North Hardin during the regular season, but fell in the District final.
North Hardin also had young talented guards in sophomore Hope Brown, freshman Kate Edwards, junior Brittanie Ware and inside forward Micha Prince. But what really set North apart from the other contenders was Kentucky signee Jenna Jackson, who had become not only a great rebounder, because of her imposing height, but a shot blocker as well. Even though North Hardin had beat Nelson County earlier in the season by a slim margin, I still felt the Lady Trojans had an advantage because of Jackson and early in the game, it looked like I was right.
North’s strong guard play took over early and the Lady Trojans built an early 14-12 first quarter lead as Brown and Ware were taking turns attacking the Lady Cardinals outside game and pressuring their transition game with an aggressive press that not only disrupted their rhythm and forced turnovers. Like she had all season, Jackson’s presense was a factor roaming freely in the middle of the Lady Trojans zone and blocking several early efforts to push the ball inside. On several occasions, Jackson would take on the Lady Cardinal forwards one-on-one and swat away their shots or force them to kick the ball outside again. The lethal inside defender had five blocks by the half and North Hardin had the lead.
Leading 27-22 at the half, it looked like the Lady Trojans had Nelson County on the run as the second half began, but suddenly things changed drastically and it set up a fantastic finish for someone. Although North Hardin had put together one of the more impressive records for the season, they struggled at times and it happened again in the fourth quarter as the Lady Cardinals behind outside shooting by guards like Kristen Zutterman helped Nelson County climb out of that hole. Zutterman’s three cut the North lead to 35-29 and then Nelson County went on a 10-2 run which mad e the score even tigher.
Suddenly, the score went to 40-39 as the fourth quarter continued and then with seconds remaining it was tied up at 55-all. Nelson County had possession and ran a play which required motion which would allow someone to pull Jackson out from under the basket to set up a shot. Just as suddenly, a Lady Cardinal shot toward the basket for the game winner, but Jackson wasn’t quite a fooled as they would have liked her to be so she trailed the play and forced a misfire, but right behind her was forward Amy Kurtz, who grabbed the rebound and put it back in the basket as it spin crazily around the rim before rolling in. With the score 57-55, Brown took the inbounds pass with 00:02 remaining, took off and fired a long pass from about mid court that fell off target.
Just like that, both Central Hardin and North Hardin had been eliminated. The headline in the News Enterprise sports section the next day read “Black Monday” along with a photo of Jackson trotting off the floor in tears while the Nelson County basketball team celebrated wildly in the back ground. The senior forward, who had scored 27-points, pulled down 11-rebounds and had either blocked or altered many shots despite being double and triple teamed most of the game would begin her college basketball career at Kentucky in five months, but would remember the end of this game for the rest of her life.
It was a great game (actually both were for different reasons) and taught me a lot about how difficult it is to face good competition in a win-or-go-home situation when the field is level.
I chose not to attend the 5th Region Championship (since 2005, I have only missed three others) since there were no 17th District or area teams present. Looking back, I wish I had. Washington County finished off quite a three game stretch by beating Nelson County in the Final, 55-45. This after losing to that same team three other times that season. It was the third time the Lady Commanderettes had won the Region title and represent our region at state and they did get past the first round with a 51-38 win over Betsy Layne before falling in the second round against Paducah Tilghman.
Since then, I have been to twenty-nine different Region Tournaments (Boys and Girls) and have enjoyed everyone of them. Still, I’ll never forget my first trip and how much I enjoyed watching the games unfold along with the emotion, passion and excitement involved in the Region Tourneys on the high school level.
And I’ll also NEVER forget what it was like for two 17th District Girls Basketball teams when a simple Monday Night become unforgettable for both of them and why it still sticks out as a BLACK MONDAY for so many people.
