February 20, 2018
Langley, Ky. — Lawrence Co. (20-7) will be making their 4th straight Girls 15th Region appearance after a 66-56 comeback victory over Betsy Layne (11-17) Monday night at Floyd Central in the first round of the 58th District tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a slow start and trailed 11-6 after one period.
Lawrence Co. regained their footing and outscored the Lady Bobcats 20-15 to go into halftime tied at 26 all.
In the third period Lawrence Co. once again outscored Betsy Layne, this time 16-10 to take a 42-36 lead in to the final stanza.
Betsy Layne knotted the score at 48 apiece with just over four minutes left in the game before Lawrence Co. started getting to the foul line and hit 14-16 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.
Lady Dawg Senior Kendra Spaulding, who sat out last season because of an injury made the most of her last postseason run by pouring in 25 points to lead the way, Lexi Ratliff finished with 18 points with 12 coming in the final period, Hannah Rucker hit 3 three pointers for 9 points, Kelly Davis 8 points, Kensley Feltner hit a three pointer for her only points, Kyleah Ward 2 points and Kassidy Cavins 1 point.
LCHS hit 4 three pointers and went 20-28 from the charity stripe.
Betsy Layne 11 15 10 20 – 56
Lawrence Co. 6 20 16 24 – 66
In the second game of the night it was #1 seed Floyd Central advancing to the championship game with a 59-50 victory over Prestonsburg.
#2 Lawrence Co. and #1 Floyd Central will meet Thursday night at 7:00 to decide the 58th District Championship.
The two teams split two regular season meetings. The Lady Jaguars won 52-44 at home and the Lady Bulldogs won 53-47 in Louisa.
This will be the 10th appearance in a District Championship game for Lawrence Co.
Lady Bulldog Head Coach Melinda Feltner
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… Tonight our girls started out very nervous. Our shots weren’t falling but I knew when Lexi Ratliff hit a layup to tie the game as the buzzer sounded at the half we were back on the right track. We made big shots when we needed them tonight. Hannah Rucker had 3 huge three pointers when we needed them. Kensley Feltner made a huge three in the second quarter when we couldn’t get shots to fall. Kelly Davis was in foul trouble most of the game but was able to come in during the 4th quarter and make four crucial free throws and get huge rebounds that we needed.”
“… Lexi Ratliff didn’t shoot particularly well but was 12-16 from the line not missing a free throw in the 4th quarter so that was huge for us. Kendra Spaulding had an amazing game, maybe her best of the season. She had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. She was everywhere. Kyleah Ward an 8th Grader came in and played solid for us with Davis in so much foul trouble. Ward had an offensive rebound and put back to build on our lead in the fourth. Kassidi Cavins and Sheree Hay both played solid for us.”
“… Just a great overall team effort. We are excited to be going back to the Expo. I was particularly proud of our kids how they battled in the first half when we couldn’t buy a basket. They never stopped playing and left everything on the court. Just what you want during tournament time. We aren’t finished yet though. We set team goals we wanted to achieve and one of them we did tonight when we got our 20th win. But the other one we will get Thursday when we play for the district championship. We know it’s gonna be a dog fight and we’re ready for the challenge. We want this championship. Floyd Central is a young but talented team. They have one of the best scorers in our region so she’ll be hard to shut down. We know it’s gonna be a battle. We hope that everyone will come out and support us like they did tonight. It was an amazing atmosphere and we appreciate everyone who came out to support us.”
