McCracken County, Henderson County survive in Girls' Sweet 16 quarterfinals

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mccracken-county-henderson-county-survive-girls-sweet-16-quarterfinals (1) — Photo by Les Nicholson | Kentucky Sports Radio

The Final Four of the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament has been set after another thrilling day of high school hoops. Eight teams came into Friday with hopes of making it to the final round of games on Saturday, but only four left with their championship hopes still alive.

In the first two games on Friday, Sacred Heart and George Rogers Clark had little issue taking care of business to make the semifinals. These two met once earlier in the season with the nationally-ranked Valkyries barely sneaking past GRC by one point, 54-53, back on Feb. 7. Sacred Heart is on the hunt for back-to-back state titles.

To close out Friday’s action, McCracken County and Henderson County toughed out close wins to lock up the final two semifinal spots. Here’s what happened.

McCracken County survives Ashland Blazer’s comeback attempt

Led by a trio of double-digit scorers, the McCracken County Lady Mustangs used a 24-point second-quarter outing to prevent a complete comeback effort from the Ashland Blazer Kittens in game three of the day, coming away with the 51-47 victory.

It was a slow start to the night for both sides, as neither team could establish a rhythm on offense early on. The score was 9-8 after the first quarter in favor of Ashland Blazer with all nine of the Kittens’ points coming courtesy of junior Ella Sellars. McCracken County had just two points on the board with under three minutes left in the frame before finding some momentum.

The second quarter was when the game got flipped on its head. McCracken County started off on an 11-2 run and extended its advantage to double-digits, eventually taking a 32-22 lead into the break. The Lady Mustangs shot 9-11 from the floor in the second period to break the game wide open.

McCracken County would hold off Ashland Blazer throughout the third, taking an 11-point lead into the final eight minutes of action. But the Kittens made one final push down the stretch. A three-pointer from Sellars brought Ashland Blazer within double-digits, which she followed up with another triple a few minutes later to make it 47-43 in favor of McCracken County and three minutes still on the clock.

Kittens 👀

Ella Sellars gets into position for a triple to cut McCracken County’s lead to 47-43. Soon after, Mustangs turnover.

2:40 left, final media break. pic.twitter.com/tuZFSE6Lym
— Joshua Moore (@JoshMooreHL) March 11, 2023

Sellars would convert on a pair of free throws a minute later to make it a two-point deficit, but a timely bucket by McCracken County junior Mikee Buchanan with 1:17 in the fourth ultimately put the game out of reach. Senior Caroline Sivills would ice the win for the Lady Mustangs with two more free throws and just six seconds left in regulation.

McCracken County was powered by 14 points from Sivills, 13 from junior Claire Johnson, and 10 from senior Destiny Thomas. The Lady Mustangs shot an efficient 59 percent overall from the field compared to just 43 percent from Ashland Blazer. Sellars led the way for the Kittens with 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists. She was aided by 17 points from sophomore Kenleigh Woods, who fouled out on the final possession.

Henderson County sneaks past Mercy in back-and-forth battle

The final game of Friday’s quarterfinals was easily the most exciting.

Despite another impressive performance from Mercy’s five-star sophomore, Leah Macy, the Henderson County Lady Colonels found a way to survive the Jaguars’ comeback efforts down the stretch, winning 63-59. Neither team established a double-digit lead throughout the night as the two programs were evenly matched. But Henderson County’s depth came into play with the Lady Colonels outscoring Mercy 30-0 in bench points.

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Both sides came out firing from the starting gate, each shooting over 50 percent from the floor in the opening period. Macy was doing the majority of the heavy lifting for Mercy, which is without starting point guard and second-leading scorer, sophomore Alyssa Murphy, due to injury. Meanwhile, Henderson County was scoring by committee but trailed 18-16 after one quarter.

The Lady Mustangs fought to keep the score close in the second frame until Mercy built its largest lead of the first half with a 26-21 advantage and under two minutes left until the intermission. Henderson County responded though to make it a 29-27 ball game at the break, taking the lead thanks to a made triple from senior Savannah Lacer. Macy was already up to 14 points and five rebounds at the half for Mercy while six different Henderson County players had at least three points.

Mercy threw the first punch out of the break, jumping out to another five-point lead, 36-31, midway through the third quarter. That advantage grew to as many as six before Henderson County went on a critical run down the stretch to make it 44-43 in favor of Mercy entering the fourth and final period.

Henderson County sophomore Shalyn Sprinkles opened up the quarter with a made three-pointer that was soon followed up by a layup from freshman Brooklyn Gibson to give the Lady Mustangs a four-point lead. They would not look back the rest of the way. Mercy was able to tie the game a couple of minutes later, but that’s when Henderson County delivered the final punch, opening up an eight-point lead with under 60 seconds on the clock.

The Lady Mustangs hit enough free throws in the closing possessions to lock up the victory. Sprinkles led the way for Henderson County with 21 points, including a 10-12 mark from the charity stripe, while Gibson chipped in 10 points and four assists. For Mercy, Macy was spectacular in spite of the loss, finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds just one day after dropping 37 points and 21 rebounds in the quarterfinals.

FINAL. Henderson Co. @ColsAthletics 63, Mercy 59. Colonels come in as best 3-pt shooting team in the tourney and prove it with 7/15 in the 2023 Girls’ #KHSAASweet16 quarterfinals. @ShalynSprinkle1 with 21 pts. Final 4 bound for an all WKY semi on Saturday vs McCracken 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QP3d3F4UiH
— Jared Peck (@HLpreps) March 11, 2023