Topic: Basketball
Wednesday February 29th (Bellarmine University)
Holy Cross (26-5) vs. Mercy Academy (26-5) (Semifinal)
Holy Cross coach Fred Copass started the following lineup: 5-9 Jr. Sydney Morabito, 5-8 Sr. Mya Hardin, 6-0 Sr. Julie Skaggs, 5-3 Jr. Morgan Wimberg, and 5-6 Sr. Kim Mingus. Mercy Academy coach Mark Evans countered with 5-10 Sr. Christine Roush, 5-9 Jr. Victoria Dircksen, 5-11 Sr. Courtney Roush, 5-7 Jr. Kayla Richardson, and 5-7 Jr. Whitney Hartlage.
Mercy Academy led Holy Cross 40-35 at halftime and outscored the Cougars 39-14 in the second half to earn a 79-49 victory. Holy Cross shot 50% in the first half but went cold in the second half only shooting 26.7% after the intermission. Mercy shot 45.2% from the field including 15 of 31 from the three point line. The Jaguars connected on eight of 15 free throws, pulled down 38 rebounds, and scored 31 points off 26 Holy Cross turnovers. Holy Cross shot 41% from the field including three of 11 from beyond the arc. The Cougars connected on 14 of 19 free throws, pulled down 29 rebounds, and scored nine points off 14 Mercy turnovers.
Whitney Hartlage led Mercy with 33 points including nine three point baskets. Kayla Richardson added 14 points including four three point baskets, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Christine Roush chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds.
Mya Hardin led Holy Cross with 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Julie Skaggs, Kim Mingus, and 5-10 So. Josie Hockman added nine, eight, and eight points respectively.
Holy Cross,19,16,8,6,49
Mercy Academy,27,13,19,20,79
Holy Cross (49) – Morabito 7, Hardin 10, Skaggs 9, Wimberg 2, Mingus 8, Hockman 8, Epperson 2, Miller 3.
Mercy Academy (79) – Ch. Roush 13, Dircksen 3, Co. Roush 6, Richardson 14, Hartlage 33, Stilger 5, Martin 1, Doherty 1, Bergamini 3.
Bullitt East (15-16) vs. Butler (21-9) (Semifinal)
Bullitt East coach Chris Stallings started the following lineup: 5-9 Sr. Ashley Duvall, 5-9 Sr. Nikole Isabel, 5-10 Fr. Kylee Willis, 5-4 So. Emily Fryman, and 5-7 So. Taylor Blain. Butler coach Larry Just countered with 5-10 Jr. Aareon Smith, 5-9 Jr. Alexis Stallard, 5-10 So. Danielle Lawrence, 5-3 Sr. Cora Moore, and 5-7 Sr. MacKenzie Martinez.
Butler scored on a Danielle Lawrence field goal on an inbounds pass from Aareon Smith with one second on the clock to give the Bearettes a 50-48 victory over Bullitt East. Butler led 23-13 in the second quarter but Bullitt East rallied to lead 38-37 after three quarters. There were five lead changes and five ties in the game. Butler shot 36% from the field including three of 16 from the three point line. The Bearettes connected on 11 of 14 free throws, pulled down 32 rebounds, and scored 11 points off 13 Bullitt East turnovers. Butler attempted 14 more shots (50-36) from the field than Bullitt East. Bullitt East shot 41.7% from the field including four of six from beyond the arc. The Lady Chargers connected on 14 of 23 free throws, pulled down 29 rebounds, and scored 12 points off 10 Butler turnovers.
Aareon Smith led Butler with 15 points and seven rebounds. Danielle Lawrence added 13 points and five rebounds. MacKenzie Martinez chipped in with nine points, four assists, and three steals. 5-11 Fr. Miah Casey pulled down seven rebounds.
Taylor Blain led Bullitt East with 11 points including two three point baskets. Emily Fryman added nine points including two three point baskets. Nikole Isabel chipped in with six points and 10 rebounds and Kylee Willis recorded six points and nine rebounds.
Bullitt East,8,16,14,10,48
Butler,13,16,8,13,50
Bullitt East (48) – A. Duvall 6, Isabel 6, Willis 6, Fryman 9, Blain 11, L. Duvall 4, Pfister 4, Cornell 2.
Butler (50) – Smith 15, Stallard 4, Lawrence 13, Moore 7, Martinez 9, Pearson 2.
Acknowledgements:
A special thanks to Bob Tonini of Sacred Heart Academy for providing the comprehensive statistics for tonight’s games.