Faced with the prospect of playing a possible Murders Row of Pikeville, Sacred Heart, Cooper and McCracken County to win a KHSAA State Girls Basketball Championship, the Bethlehem Banshees got just as far as they could until the Valkyries ended that dream with an Elite Eight loss yesterday at Rupp Arena, 71-46.
It was the only the second time the Banshees reached the second round of the KHSAA State Tournament in their five appearances since the Tourney was moved to Lexington in 2019. After a tough and gut check performance against Pikeville on Thursday, the Banshees luck ran out against Sacred Heart. Facing one of the toughest teams in the State (not to mention the Nation), the Banshees had to play a near perfect game to have a chance and although the defense held its own early, it was the offense which really struggled throughout most of the game.
Bethlehem started out by missing their first three shots before Leah Macy broke their scoring drought with a jumper to cut the Sacred Heart lead to 4-2 with 6:16 left in the first quarter. Tessa Miles’ putback kept them close at 6-4. It would be their last points as the Banshees missed their next seven shots while the Valkyries went on a 12-0 run until Tessa Miles hit the team’s first (they would only hit 2-10) three pointer at the 1:03 mark of the quarter to make it 21-7. Zakiyah Johnson countered with a three of her own as Sacred Heart finished the quarter with a 23-9 lead.
The Valkyries added on to their lead in the second quarter until Macy hit one of two free throws to make it 28-10 at the 6;32 mark. Johnson hit her second three until Carlie Thurmond countered with her only made three of the night to make it 31-13 at the 5:26 mark. Thurmond would add three more free throws to cut into the deficit at 31-16 and Macy added a layup to make it 33-18 at the 3:50 mark. The teams traded missed opportunities until Macy’s layup and Tessa Miles two free throws made it 35-22 with 1:26 left. Miles finished the half with another free throw to cut into the lead as the Valkyries made it 40-25 at the half.
Although the Banshees started slow and were outscored 23-9 in the first quarter, they could make a move in the third quarter to cut into 15-point deficit. However after Thurmond’s two free throws made it 40-27 to start the third quarter and Tessa Miles tip-in made it 42-29 at the 6:47 mark, Jordan Tootie’s layup and Reagan Bender’s three pointer increased the lead back to 47-29 and a 18-point hole. Thurmond’s layup made it 47-31 at 5:13, but a 12-0 run by Sacred Heart pushed the lead back up to 59-31 until Kaylee McElroy’s free throw finished the scoring in the third quarter.
The Banshees tried to make a game of it with a 6-0 run behind Macy’s two layups and Tessa Miles basket to make it 59-38 at the 5:21 mark of the fourth and then Ashlyn Miles basket made it 61-40 at the 4:21 left. After Bender’s layup, Thurmond added two free throws to make it 63-42 with 3:20 left. After that, the two teams traded points until the 1:40 mark when coach Clark took the starters out for the last time.
Sacred Heart coach Donny Moir, who won her fourth straight State Title with a win over McCracken County), had said she went over the team about defensive coverages after the Valkyries close encounter with George Rogers Clark the night before and it definitely paid off. The Banshees shot 16-51 from the field with Macy going 6-18, Thurmond 2-7, Ashlyn Miles 2-6, Tessa Miles 6-15 and Kensey Clayton 0-5. The team was collective 2-11 from the three-point line while the Valkyries were 6-20 and shot 30-56 from the field. Sacred Heart forced multiple rushed shots and seemed to hurry the Banshees the entire game with their height and athletic ability. The Valkyries were the best team Bethlehem had faced all season.
While the backups got their playing team in the final 1:40 of the game, the three seniors sat on the bench watching for the last time as most likely basketball players as the three already have their futures chosen for them and most likely that (basketball) sport isn’t a part of it.
For the most part, there really were no tears (at least from the sideline) as the three had already had quite a senior year winning a state title in girls’ soccer and their fourth straight trip to Rupp Arena just seemed like icing on the cake.
As for Jason Clark and the Banshees, another successful season had come to an end and with a totally different team than the one which made the first trip to Rupp back in 2019. Now, the question is “Where Do they go from here?”
Surely, there will be different faces, but Clark will have some talent returning with Macy and Tessa Miles. Still, they will have to find three more starters and that will be quite a task. Also, there is the fact now they will have another opponent to face next season and that is history. Going back to 1975, there have been only nine teams have ever repeated in the 5th Region and only four teams have won it back-to-back to-back and of those four, only two have EVER won it four straight times (Marion County 2010-2011-2012-2013, Bethlehem 2021-2022-2023-2024). There have been a few teams in other Regions which have repeated multiple times in the girl’s division including Marshall County in Region 1 which did it from 1981 to 1991 (eleven straight times). So, it isn’t difficult to repeat, but in today’s era with multiple sports being the rage it isn’t as likely.
It’s probably not a good idea to bet against this team though until someone finally dethrones them. I remember a conversation I had with one of their assistant coach after their heart stopping win last season against Taylor County to win their third straight Region Title. He reiterated “ I didn’t think we’d repeat after we lost Ameila and Ella, then I thought the same thing after Kasey and Bailey graduated. Now, Emma’s leaving and I’m still not sure.”
With Thurmond, Miles and Clayton gone, there will be a pretty big hole to fill and it will be fun to see who they fill it with as they begin their drive for Number Five next season.
