It wasn’t just a victory to advance to the next round of the KHSAA Girls Sweet Sixteen for the Bethlehem Banshees. It was their first win at the State Tournament EVER. Bethlehem’s brief history at the elite level only began in 2019 when they won their first 5th Region Girls Basketbll Championship and became the first Region Five team to represent at the KHSAA State Tourney which had moved to Rupp Arena in Lexington.
The First Timers had a very short stay with a close loss to Owensboro Catholic in the first round. The tough loss was softened by the fact that head coach Jason Clark’s team had come so far so fast. This time around it was different because this was a team which had everything including experience in key positions.
However, their first round draw was against one of the toughest team’s in the field in Bullitt East. Many had tabbed this game as “The Championship Game” a little early and it did live up to it’s early billing.
Bethlehem’s 70-65 win was built on strong play by senior Ella Thompson, who continued to find lanes to drive or fired away from outside putting up 25-points on 9-of-14 shooting while pulling down eight rebounds and dished out four assists. It was kind of a marvelous showcase between Thompson and the Lady Charger’s Gracie Merkle, who’s size and ability to alter shots on defense keep Bullitt East in the game all day long. Merkle put up a game high 27-points and 18-rebounds despite Banshee’s hanging all over her.
Still, this was a game which was close through out as neither team was able to establish a dominate lead early. Bethlehem’s Ameila Hodges put the first points on the board with a three, but Emma Egan put two straight buckets back to back to retake the lead at 6-3. Bullitt East put together a 4-0 run and then Bethlehem retook the lead with a 6-0 run at 13-12. No matter what Bethlehem did offensively, Bullitt East had an answer and it was a last second jumper by Thompson that extended the lead to 28-25 Bethlehem at the half.
Emma Filiatreau hit a three and Carlie Thurmond had a couple of key steals along with a three of her own and it looked like the Banshees were on their way with a 44-38 lead with 2:00 left in the third quarter, but once again the Lady Chargers responded. Bullitt East got a long three from Lexi Starr at the top of the key to help tie it again at 46-46 as the fourth quarter began.
The close play continued as Merkle and Starr put their team back up by four early, but Bethlehem responded with five of their own. After both team’s traded baskets, Thompson hit a three to make it 58-54 with 4:30 left. After that, it was up to the ball handlers of the Banshee’s in general but Hodges in particular to play keep away and force Bullitt East to foul while the Banshees hit key free throws including 6-for-6 from freshman Thurmond, who finished with 18-points in her first game at state.
What was forgotten was that although this was the Banshee’s second trip to the Sweet Sixteen in three years, outside of Hodges and Thompson, no other Bethlehem player had extended playing time during their Owensboro Catholic game. In many ways, this was a different team with Clark working in Thurmond, Spalding, Bailey Bishop at guard along with inside players Xavier Smalley and Filiatreau.
Smalley led Bethlehem with 10 rebounds and both she and Filiatreau had three blocked shots each while controlling the middle against the powerful Merkle.
So, Bethlehem will live to play another day. This time against Marshall County Friday. The two teams met early in January with the Banshees winning a close game.
5:00 start in the first game of the evening session.
