TOMPKINSVILLE – McKenzie England knew it was good when it left her hands.
The senior center for Barren County, England doesn’t shoot too many 3-pointers, but she’s now recorded one that she’ll never forget.
With the Trojanettes trailing Allen County-Scottsville 51-49 with just seconds remaining in a District 15 Girls’ Basketball Tournament semifinal, England delivered the most important triple of her career – splashing one from the left wing to lift Barren to an exhilarating 52-51 overtime win on Tuesday night at Monroe County High School.
“Coach (Piper) Lindsey set a play for Bailey (Pedigo), and I just had faith in Bailey that she was going to hit it, but then she was like, ‘Kenzie, you’ve just gotta step up and do you.’ So … I did me,” England said of her game-winner. “I did it for the girls on the team. Every one of them gave their heart – even the bench. Mostly, I did it for my seniors.”
Barren County – which is now 27-4 on the season – played a dominant opening quarter and built a 17-5 lead but Allen County-Scottsville battled back in each ensuing period and even held numerous leads of its own. The Lady Patriots also hit a big 3 of their own as Mason Towery knocked down one in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 47-all and sent it into overtime before the Trojanettes recorded theirs.
Elizabeth Bertram led the way for BCHS with 18 points, while Bailey Pedigo finished with 12. Mallory Pedigo scored nine and England added seven to round out the Trojanettes’ stat sheet.
“They just kept their composure the entire game,” Lindsey said of her team. “We knew they were gonna make a run. We had a nice lead in the first half, but good teams make runs. I thought we responded well. (McKenzie) just stepped up with confidence in it. That’s one shot she works on. Just proud of her to step up and hit it.”
In their final high school games, standout senior duo Sarah Sutton (22) and Mason Towery (18) combined for 40 points to carry the Lady Patriots, who finished the 2018-19 campaign with a 20-7 overall record.
The Trojanettes will now meet Glasgow for the district championship at 6 p.m. Friday and will play in next week’s Region 4 Tournament at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.
Barren County was firing on all cylinders out of the gate.
Back-to-back scores from Bailey Pedigo to open the game – followed by Mallory Pedgo’s layup – gave the Trojanettes a 6-0 lead at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. Allen County-Scottsville recorded its first basket from Sutton at the 4:31 mark, but Barren County put together a 9-0 run to build a 15-2 advantage with 1:34 left in the period.
Sutton’s 3-pointer brought the Lady Patriots within 15-5, but England quickly scored on the opposite end to put the Trojanettes up 17-5 after eight minutes of action.
“We got down early, but I just knew that we weren’t gonna give up and just back down,” Sutton said. “We were going to fight back until the horn blew. We fought our way back in there and battled.”
Allen County-Scottsville was the better team in the second quarter, but neither side could get anything going offensively as only nine total points were added to the scoreboard in the frame.
Five straight points from the Lady Patriots – highlighted by a Sutton triple – cut ACS’ deficit to 17-10 at the 3:20 mark before a Mallory Pedgio bucket gave Barren County a 19-10 lead. Towery’s first field goal of the contest at the 2:16 mark made it 19-12 at the break.
Barren County shot 33.3 percent in the first half, while Allen County-Scottsville shot only 16 percent.
The Trojanettes opened the ensuing half with two sets of free throws from Bailey Pedigo, but ACS responded with a quick 6-0 run to get within 23-18 at the 5:52 mark. Another 6-0 run by the Lady Patriots brought them even closer at 28-25 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Back-to-back scores from Bertram – highlighted by a left-corner 3 – quickly put Barren County up 33-25, and it soon took a tight 35-30 advantage into the fourth.
A pair of Sutton free throws – followed by a Towery 3 – made it 41-37, and it was soon 43-39 after another basket from Towery at the 4:21 mark.
Taylor Carter’s jumper with 1:56 left made it 45-42 Barren County, and it soon trailed 47-44. With the scoreboard reading that, Towery stepped up and hit a step-back triple to tie it at 47-all. Mallory Pedigo’s runner at the buzzer on the other end just missed and the two sides went into an extra period.
In overtime – with Allen County-Scottsville leading 51-49 – England received an inbounds pass, turned around, quickly set her feet and released a clean, smooth shot … one that went straight through the net and sent Barren County out on top.
“Honestly, as soon as I released it I knew it was going in,” said England. “It felt good. I stepped up and just shot it.”
Barren County – 17 2 16 12 5 — 52
Allen County-Scottsville – 5 7 18 17 4 — 51
BCHS – Bertram 18, B. Pedigo 12, M. Pedigo 9, England 7, Bush 4, Ennis 2.
ACS – Sutton 22, Towery 18, Carter 7, Cook 2, McReynolds 2.
Glasgow uses big second quarter, beats Monroe County
A dominating second quarter propelled Glasgow to a 62-46 win over Monroe County in the District 15 Girls’ Basketball Tournament semifinals on Tuesday evening at Monroe County High School.
The top-seeded Lady Scotties led by just three at 15-12 after the opening quarter but put together a commanding second period – which included them outscoring Monroe County 16-0 – to build a 31-12 advantage at halftime and never looked back.
Ashanti Gore led the way for Glasgow (20-8) with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Anzley Adwell finished with 17. KJ Hughes rounded out the Lady Scotties’ stat sheet with 11 points.
The Lady Scotties finished with a 41-22 edge in the rebounding category, shot 25-of-47 (53.2 percent) from the field and forced 11 turnovers.
Paisley Ford paced fifth-seeded Monroe County (5-19) with 11 points in its season-ending defeat.
Glasgow (20-8) will now meet Barren County in Friday’s championship game at 6 p.m. and automatically earns a spot in next week’s Region 4 Tournament at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.
Glasgow – 15 16 16 15 — 62
Monroe Co. – 12 0 10 24 — 46
GHS – Gore 24, Adwell 17, Hughes 11, Lee 6, Bradley 2, Page 2.
MCHS – Ford 11, Massingille 10, Turner 9, Langford 9, Bartley 7.
