The Allen
County-Scottsville Lady Patriot basketball team reached the finals of the South
Central Banhk-Halton Classic last week for the fourth time in the past five
years. The Lady Patriots defeated Lecanto Florida 54-9 and Apollo 48-34 to
reach the title game last Saturday. In the championship game, Upperman (TN) was
too much for AC-S, winning 66-29.
On opening night, AC-S had little trouble with the win over Lecanto. Every Lady Patriot in uniform played at least 11 minutes in the dominating win. Mason Towery led the way with 14 points, Sarah Sutton added 12 with both players seeing less than 14 minutes of court time. Bailee Alderson added eight points while eighth-grader Chloe Cook----in her first career start---chipping in a career-best seven points.
AC-S opened a23-4 lead after the first quarter and pushed their advantage to 37-6 at the half. The Lady Patriots outscored the Lady Panthers 17-3 the rest of the way---a second half played mostly with a running clock. The final nine points by the Lady Panthers (3-9) matched the lowest point total by an AC-S opponent in the 43-year history of the program.
The win moved AC-S into Friday’s semifinal match-up with a talented Apollo team. For the first 16 minutes, AC-S looked to still be in celebration of the Thursday night win. The Lady Patriots were sluggish offensively, standing on defense, and not in the game mentality. Apollo raced to a 17-11 lead after the first quarter and carried a 32-20 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The result will forever be etched in both memory.
Following a not so quite Lady Patriot locker room that, according to reports ripped paint from the walls, a different AC-S team emerged in the second half. Chloe Cook found Towery opened for a jumper and a three-pointer---baskets that brought that brought AC-S to within seven less than two minutes into the third. Following a miss, Towery scored again. Moments later, a forced turnover led to Sutton being fouled. The junior sank both free throws. After an Apollo miss, Sutton stepped behind the arch and nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 32 and complete a 12-0 run in four minutes.
Apollo did not have an answer. Despite a pair of free throws that tied the game at 34 at the 3:21 mark of the third, the E-gals could not overcome the fired up, streaking Lady Patriots. After three consecutive charge calls in the E-gals, the Lady Patriots continued to score. A Sutton jumper lifted AC-S to a 36-34 lead going to the final period.
With AC-S’s tight defense continuing to ground the E-gals, AC-S would close the game on a 12-0 fourth quarter. Buckets by Baylea Cook, Towery, Sutton, and Day were part of a five for seven shooting period for AC-S.
The win---a win in which AC-S closed the game on a 28-2 second half run---saw the Lady Patriots make 20 of their 38 shots in the game, a 52.6% clip. From the free throw line, the Lady Patriots went four for five. Apollo (7-6) finished the game 12 of 33 from the field, including a second half in which the E-gals were 0-13 from the floor.
Towery led the way for AC-S. The junior finished with 17 points, all coming on field goals. Sutton added 13. Baylea Cook chipped in a career-best 10 points.
The win moved AC-S to the championship game against Upperman from Baxter Tennesee---the rfeigning Class 2A state champions and owners of a 23-game winning streak. The Lady Bees also featured Akira Levy---the reigning Tennessee Class 2A Miss Basketball and signee with Western Kentucky University.
Levy entered Saturday’s championship game having already scored 42 points against Bowling Green and 27 verses Simon Kenton. However, it would not be Levy that sank AC-S’s hopes.
Teammate Torie Brooks erupted for 20 points with 18 of the 20 coming on three-point shots. The outside scoring barrage by Upperman---seven threes in the first half----enabled the Lady Bees to turn a 15-11 lead after the first into a 37-21 lead by halftime. A 17-8 third period and a 12-0 run to close the game enabled Upperman (16-0) to take the championship. Levy emerged as a scoring threat late, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
For the Lady Patriots, Towery led the way with 10 points. Sutton added nine points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds---just missing a double-double. Baylea Cook added eight points.
The Lady Patriots (7-7) will host Monroe County (5-7) Friday night at 6 before facing Muhlenberg North (11-4) Saturday afternoon at 3:45 in the Ken Byrd Classic at Edmonson County. Tuesday, AC-S goes to Logan County (6-5).