Wednesday night’s matchup between Bowling Green and Warren East was anticipated to be one of the best games of the entire District 14 Girls’ Basketball Tournament.
That wasn’t the case.
The Lady Purples played three dominating quarters and rolled to a 79-54 win over the Lady Raiders to earn a spot in Thursday’s championship game against top-seeded South Warren and punch their ticket to next week’s Region 4 Tournament at Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena.
“We wanted to pressure them as much as possible,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “Our girls did a tremendous job of coming in and sticking to the game plan, being active up front defensively and forcing some turnovers – and that maximized our possessions.”
Bowling Green (17-11 overall) only led 18-13 after the first quarter but used a dominating second period to lead by 20 at halftime and take total control – and it never looked back.
Region 4 Player of the Year Keely Morrow led the Lady Purples with a game-high 24 points – which all came in the first half – while Taylor Ragland scored 16 and T’Alla Brown finished with 14. Along with their balanced scoring offense, Bowling Green forced Warren East into 30 turnovers on the night.
“I think it’s pretty big because everybody was doubting us,” Ragland said of her team’s win. “When we played East at our place and at their place, the games were really close, so we had to come out and play real hard.”
It was a closely played game early, but then Bowling Green blew the doors open.
Leading by just two at 11-9 at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter, Bowling Green later led 18-13 after one before totally taking over in the second.
“We had to make some adjustments to what they were doing,” Head said. “Our girls did a fantastic job of adjusting on the fly, which is what we’ve preached about the last couple of weeks. Kudos to them – they did a good job of being able to adjust and carry out the game plan.”
After it was 21-17 early into the quarter, the Lady Purples held Warren East (18-13) to just nine points throughout the remainder of the opening half and took a commanding 46-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Morrow was already up to her 24 points and the break, while Bowling Green forced the Lady Raiders into 21 first-half turnovers. Cressida Duncan was leading Warren East with 11 points and finished with 17 to carry it.
“It’s Keely’s senior season, so she’s trying to go all-out,” Ragland said of her teammate. “She’s just trying to get two sets of nets and we’re just trying to help her out. We’re trying to keep pushing it as far as we can go.”
Bowling Green continued to control the momentum in the second half.
The Lady Purples went up 51-30 at the 5:43 mark of the third quarter after Keyozdon Jones knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner, and their lead soon extended to 58-30 with Shalyn Whitson’s successful three-point play.
Allie Hendrick’s basket inside helped Warren East add points to its side of the scoreboard, but Whitson followed up with a score on the other end to put Bowling Green back up by 30, and it was later up 73-38 entering the fourth.
Thanks to their comfortable lead, the Lady Purples were able to cruise through the final eight minutes to advance.
“Our goal was to get to the region tournament – and once you get there, records go out the window,” said Head. “We’re gonna come in tomorrow and play as hard as we can possibly play and have a shot at it. We’re just glad to get back to the regional tournament.”
–Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TMansfieldST.–
