MOREHEAD - Boyd County may have entered the game as its district runner-up, but showed it was still the defending region champion Thursday, rolling past Lewis County 52-30 in the 16th Region Tournament semifinals at Morehead State's Johnson Arena.
Boyd County had a 12-point lead before Lewis County was able to get on the scoreboard, as it struggled through nine first-quarter turnovers and an 0-for-8 start from the field.
"They're the defending champs and they played like it tonight," Lewis County coach Jay Fite said. "This is their court until somebody takes it from them."
Lewis County was never able to recover and its best season ever finally came to an end, but not before winning the most games ever in a season (20), its first district title and first in the region tournament.
"Mentally I think we were a little shell-shocked," Fite said. "Our fan support has been amazing but tonight we just couldn't give them anything to cheer for. We knew we'd have the best crowd over here. We just wish we could have done better for them."
In all, Lewis County turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, far more than it's had during entire games lately and mostly coming against Boyd County's zone defense in the half-court. Lewis County finished with 22 turnovers in the game.
"There were just so many uncharacteristic things we did tonight that we hadn't all season," Fite said. "We averaged under 15 turnovers a game. We turned it over our first couple of possessions and our heads really dropped."
Not wanting to use the overall youth of his team as a crutch or excuse, Fite had to acknowledge that the pressure of continuing a great season and playing on a stage as grand as the region semifinals had an impact on the performance.
"Last year we were immature in the district finals, and this year we were in the region semis," Fite said. "We've been very loose lately and I've tried to keep them from getting uptight but maybe we should have buckled down more. Hopefully if we're fortunate to get back in this situation again we'll handle ourselves differently."
Logan Fraley and Taylor Wheeler led Boyd County with 16 points and 14 points, respectively, with Fraley's being a game-high. The two combined for 13 of Boyd County's first 17 and were an inside-out combination as Fraley canned four 3-pointers while Wheeler did the most damage inside.
Lewis County, meanwhile, got just one point in the first quarter and bounced back for 11 in the second but went into halftime trailing by 20 at 32-12. Lewis County out-rebounded the other Lady Lions 16-13 in the half but went just 3-of-14 from the field (21 percent) while Boyd County went 11-of-25 (44 percent).
"(Boyd County) only had three offensive boards in the first half, but they didn't miss anything," Fite said. "Then in the second half, (Boyd County) missed several shots but we didn't rebound."
Lewis County handled the ball better as the second half opened but could draw no closer. Fraley's final 3 of the game gave Boyd County its largest lead of 25 points heading into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Lewis County finished at just 28 percent with only 10 made field goals. Boyd County cooled off in the second half, shooting 30 percent.
Boyd County stayed in a 2-3 zone defense the entire game, as Fite expected after seeing the same thing in their match-up on February 13.
"Their match-up zone is a little deceiving," Fite said. "I thought we did a super job against it (in the last meeting). Tonight we were just kind of passing and standing. Our number-one mission all year has been to be the aggressor and tonight we weren't, by far."
Savannah Anderson led Lewis County with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. The freshman had reached 1,000 career points in Monday's first round and on Thursday junior guard Taylor Frye joined her by also reaching that mark and finished the game with eight.
In her final game, Michelle Robersion, the lone starter to be lost for Lewis County, scored four points. She'll be one of just two seniors to depart due to graduation, with Tasha Pruitt being the other.
"We hate to lose both of them," Fite said. "Michelle's defensive intensity has been wonderful and she's been a great leader and very understanding. Tasha came back after not playing for a few years and has been the ultimate team player."
In all, Fite agreed there's plenty of reason for optimism in looking to the future as the bulk of this year's team will return next year, and still be relatively young, which has already been proven to not be an issue.
"As a team, I think we exceeded expectations," Fite said. "Our kids did a super job of making some history and doing some things that had never been done. A lot of times, teams that accomplish things like this have six or seven seniors, but we've only got two and everybody else coming back. We've got girls that didn't play much that will be an impact for the next two or three years.
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