It wasn’t the kind of game that you might want to use to sell the game of Girls High School Basketball, but for Meade County head girls basketball coach Dina Hackert and her Lady Waves, it was certainly good enough. In what looked like a game in which points were at a minimum, the Lady Waves got more than enough points to finish off the Breckinridge County Lady Tigers for their first 3rd Region Title since 2014 and punched a ticket to the 2022 KHSAA Girls Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena Wednesday morning, 42-17.
Freshman Peyton Bradley was able to find the hoop just enough to lead the game in scoring with 18-points and in a game in which the first quarter ended in a 4-1 score and then a halftime score of 12-8, she just kept finding ways to get to the basket whether by shooting or the free throw line (she was 14-of-16 from the stripe).
After leading by just four at the half, Meade County finally began opening things up with a three point barrage when Mattie Clayton and Aubrey Hardesty hit them back-to-back to open up a 20-13 lead in the third quarter. Breckinridge County, one of the hottest team’s in the 3rd Region this season continued to struggle with their shooting as point guard Isabel Grimes was the prime target for Hackert’s Green Wave Defense.
In the three previous Breck-Meade matchups’, the Green Wave continued to harass the senior 3rd Region Player of the Year and that resulted in probably her worst scoring outing as she was held to just a single point. Guard Caroline Lucas led the Lady Tigers with just six points as all Breckinridge County shooters were handcuffed throughout the game with constant pressure.
Not once did the Lady Tigers score in double figures in any quarter during their first Region Championship appearance since 2016 and the scoring drought continued for coach Chad Moorman’s team. Ironically, the Green Wave outscored the Lady Tigers 22-4 in the fourth quarter as they hit only one field goal (they shot 9-31 for the game) but continued to put themselves at the free throw line. For the Lady Tigers, it was the end of one of their most successful seasons as it once again ended just short of a State Tournament appearance.
Moorman will lose four seniors and they will be missed (Grimes, Sydney and Skylar Tucker and Lily Critchelow) although they will return several important starters next season. For the Green Wave, the celebration starts with the entire city of Brandenburg planning a wagon train towards Lexington Wednesday for their first State Tournament appearance in nearly six seasons. Hackert, who was part of two such appearances back in the mid-1980’s knows the importance of preparation and had her team ready for all three Region Tournament games, just as she has had the Lady Waves all season long as they finished winning 22-of-their-last-23. Ironically, that loss was to Bullitt East in Overtime on February 7th. With their amazing comeback win over Boyd County in the opening round, the Lady Chargers will be their next opponent Friday afternoon.
If Hackert’s preparation for big games is on spot, then Friday should be full of lots of loud Brandenburg people cheering them on hopefully leaving that day a very happy bunch.
