By Jim Mashek, Sporting Times
LEXINGTON — Survive and advance. One game at a time. Find a way to win.
Pick a cliche’, any cliche’, and it might apply for the Bowling Green High School girls basketball team.
You know what? They’ll take it.
Bowling Green’s Janiya Bailey broke a tie game in the second overtime with two free throws, and the Lady Purples’ defense took over from there as the BGHS girls opened KHSAA Sweet Sixteen play with a tense 50-48 victory over Bishop Brossart on Wednesday at Rupp Arena.
“It shows the resiliency of our team,” fourth-year BGHS coach Calvin Head said.
No doubt about that.
The Lady Purples, who improved to 19-10 on the season, trailed for much of regulation. But Tanaya Bailey’s drive to the basket tied the score at 37, and she added a blocked shot in the final minute. Then, after another BGHS defensive stop, Tanaya Bailey had a good look at a mid-court shot as time expired, but it hit the front of the rim and was off the mark.
Bishop Brossart’s 6-foot-3 senior center, Marie Kiefer, fouled out with 5:33 left in regulation with the Lady Mustangs holding a 35-30 lead. That forced Brossart coach Kevin Bundy to change his offensive approach, and the presence of BGHS teammates Meadow Tisdale and LynKaylah James near the basket seemed to turn the tide in the Lady Purples’ favor.
“Offensively, it affected us quite a bit,” Bundy said. “But we know what we have to do to win games. We don’t look for any crutches if things don’t go our way … play the hand that is dealt.”
As expected, Head used Tisdale, his 5-foot-11 sophomore forward, in a tight man-to-man defense against Kiefer. James, the Lady Purples’ 5-foot-11 junior center, played with four fouls for the final four minutes of regulation and the overtimes. But Head was content to substitute offense for defense down the stretch, and James had another strong game, finishing with a team-high 15 points and 19 rebounds.
“It feels great. We’ve just got to keep working for the next game,” James said.
That’ll come on Friday, when Bowling Green squares off with Sacred Heart (22-7) in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. CDT. Sacred Heart drubbed Knott County Central 64-32 in its first-round game. The semifinals and championship game will be held Saturday.
Kiefer, who will play next season at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, struggled offensively against the likes of Tisdale and the Lady Purples. She scored 7 points and had nine blocked shots and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes on the floor. Junior guard Lauren Macht was the Lady Mustangs’ top scorer, hitting 4 of 10 shots from 3-point range while leading her team with 16 points. Junior guard Rosie Jump also shined for Bishop Brossart, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds.
Motioning toward Tisdale and James at the podium after the game, Head said:
“These two do a great job of keeping people off the boards, with their strength and athleticism. Our guards did a good job playing perimeter defense … Meadow exerted so much energy on the defensive end tonight … She played like a champ.”
BGHS sophomore guard Tanaya Bailey finished the game with nine points and three steals, and teammate Emma Huskey added eight points and five rebounds.
Tisdale frustrated Kiefer with her work under the basket and played a team-high 39 minutes for the Lady Purples. Tisdale hit six of eight shots and finished with 14 points, four blocked shots, four rebounds and two steals.
Huskey opened the scoring for the Lady Purples in the second OT, taking a pass from Kiyah Gray and drilling a 3-pointer from the left corner. Bowling Green never trailed in the second overtime, but the Lady Mustangs’ Rosie Jump got off an awkward 3-point shot that could have won it with about four seconds left.
Jump’s shot was long, however, and BGHS guard JaSiyah Franklin secured the rebound to end it.
The Lady Purples had survived.
