By JAMES BROWN
WCLU Sports
The Trojanettes are champs again. Barren County beat Warren East, 62-46, Thursday night on its home court to win the Girls’ 15th District Tournament title.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said senior guard Katie Elmore.
Elmore was a junior last season for the Trojanettes when they were upset in the first round of the district tournament. She and Katie Gearlds are the only two seniors this season.
Barren opened the game on a hot streak with back-to-back 3-pointers, and never trailed.
“It helps being on top from the very beginning and staying on top,” Gearlds said. She hit the second three that gave Barren a 6-0 lead a minute and a half into the game.
East closed to within two points with baskets by Lydia Jones and Kennedy Lawson, but Mahalia Burton nailed another 3-pointer for Barren with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
The Trojanettes led 15-7 at the end of the first quarter after Elmore banked in a shot at the buzzer.
Barren opened the second period on a 4-0 run to take its first double-digit lead, 19-7, with two minutes gone in the quarter. The Lady Raiders later closed to within six points, 21-15, but a 3-pointer by Addyson McFall broke the run with 1:36 left in the first half.
The Trojanettes were up 25-18 at halftime.
Warren East closed to within five points twice in the third quarter, but Barren answered each time.
A bucket by Jones with 5:42 showing in the quarter cut Barren’s lead to 28-23, but Gearlds put back an offensive rebound at the other end. Two minutes later, Keyoni Collins scored, but Burton answered with a bucket.
After a made free throw by Jones, Burton and Addy Slagle hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Trojanettes’ lead back to double digits, 38-26. Less than a minute was left in the third quarter.
Down nine, 40-31, going into the final period, East cut its deficit to six with a bucket and made free throw by Kennedy Lawson. Slagle answered that with an and-1 of her own.
Shelby Byrd took over the game for the next two minutes. She stole the ball and made a layup, followed that with another transition basket, and finished her run with a layup. Ann Ashley Atkinson added a reverse layup with 4:17 to play, and Barren led 51-34. The lead did not drop below double digits from there.
“We told the girls … a district championship game is going to be a game of runs,” said Barren County head coach Piper Lindsey. “We knew that East was going to … make a run as well, and we would have to return the favor, basically.”
Lindsey said it felt “really good” to win the district title and reach the Girls’ Fourth Region Tournament. “First of all, we’re glad we’re going. Second of all, these kids have worked so hard all year and we’re finally glad to cut down these nets.”
Barren County (24-5) and Warren East (20-6) will both play in the regional tournament at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena. The bracket will be drawn Friday morning, and the tournament begins Sunday.
SCORING
Barren County
Elmore, 15; Byrd, 13; Gearlds, 10; Burton, 8; Slagle, 6; Hannah Bragg, 4; Atkinson, 3; McFall, 3.
Warren East
Sam Carver, 13; Jones, 10; Madison Lawson, 9; Kennedy Lawson, 6; Jordan Brooks, 3; Brelynn Wardlow, 3; Collins, 2.
