The play of Keely Morrow, a big second half and clutch free throws led the Bowling Green girls’ basketball team to a 49-41 win on Friday night at Warren East.
Morrow, a senior guard/forward, scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Taylor Ragland scored eight points to help the Lady Purples (11-8 overall, 5-1 District 14) earn a grinded-out road victory.
“I’ll take a win in District 14 any day,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “A lot of credit to coach (Orlando) Hayden and his girls — they really came with a nice game plan. I thought going down the stretch Keely really stepped up. Always good to get a win on the road.”
Warren East led 13-12 after the first quarter, but Bowling Green was up 25-22 at halftime. The Lady Purples used an 8-0 run to run to build a 37-32 advantage at the end of three quarters, and that proved to be the difference.
The two sides exchanged runs throughout the opening quarter.
Warren East jumped out to an 8-4 lead after a basket by Cailyn Howard, but a 5-0 run by Bowling Green put it up 9-8 with 2:02 remaining in the first. A three by Hailey Hymer cut the Lady Raiders’ deficit to 12-11, and a pair of Howard free throws then gave East a tight 13-12 advantage after one.
“We came out and were sloppy and slow,” Morrow said. “We’ve been out of our routine because of no school and the snow. But we came together at the end and were able to pull out a win.”
Bowling Green opened the second on a 6-0 run and built an 18-13 lead. Despite not scoring its first basket of the quarter until the 2:13 mark, Warren East only trailed 23-20.
Trailing 25-20 with under a minute to play in the first half, Howard was fouled while in the act of shooting a three. By making two of the three free throws, Bowling Green was up by just three at 25-22 at halftime.
At the break, Howard already had 12 points and five rebounds for Warren East, while Morrow was up to eight and five for the Lady Purples.
Howard finished with 13 points and eight boards to carry the Lady Raiders (9-10, 1-3).
The second half continued to be a back-and-forth affair.
Bowling Green held a slim 27-26 lead with just over five minutes left in the third quarter, but a free throw by Howard tied it. After back-to-back free throw possessions, Allie Hendrick’s three from the left wing put Warren East up 32-29.
Once down three, the Lady Purples put together a quick 6-0 run to take a 35-32 advantage with two minutes remaining in the quarter. A pair of Morrow free throws then put Bowling Green up 37-32 entering the fourth.
“We actually executed some sets down the stretch that we’ve been working on for the last couple weeks, so I just told them that I was extremely proud of their execution down the stretch,” Head said.
Bowling Green took a 41-35 lead midway through the final quarter, and a three by Morrow pushed that advantage to 44-37 with 5:16 left.
That seven-point lead helped the Lady Purples record a road win in a tough environment.
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
