03-02-2012, 11:15 AM
ALEXANDRIA | Despite putting up a fight in the final three quarters, the Mason County Lady Royals were unable to climb back from an early deficit and fell to the host school 67-54 in a 10th Region girls basketball tournament semifinal game at Campbell County Middle School on Wednesday evening.
The Lady Camels scored 14 unanswered points to sprint to an 18-3 lead with 6:39 left in the second quarter before Mason responded with a 16-6 run to slice the deficit to five with 2:27 to play in the half. Freshman Cara Green provided the offensive punch for the Lady Royals during the run, scoring eight of her nine total points in a span of 2:29, including a pair of and-ones.
Campbell proceeded to reel off seven consecutive points after the Mason run to regain a 12-point advantage. Junior guard Taylor Robinson, who finished with a game-high 25 points, scored five quick points with a steal and a layup followed by a 3-pointer and junior forward Molly Kitchen added a putback bucket with 1:19 left. Lady Royals sophomore guard Elle Simms scored the final three points of the half to get Mason to within nine at the break.
After the Lady Camels built a 45-31 lead on back-to-back three-point plays from senior guard Megan Rauch. The Lady Royals went on an 11-4 run to make the score 49-42 with 5:54 to play in the game. The run began with consecutive baskets from senior guard Courtney Moran, who scored nine in her final game in blue and white.
Robinson began a 12-5 Lady Camels run with a putback and Campbell sealed the game in the closing moments from the free-throw line, making seven foul shots in the final 2:14.
Campbell (22-10) will meet Montgomery County in the championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Mason County coach Piper Lindsey was encouraged with her team's effort and also reflected on the season.
"I'm very pleased the way we battled back after getting behind early," she said. "We very easily could've folded but we came back and got within five but just couldn't get all the way back. The girls played extremely hard and kept playing but it just wasn't our night. This team has overcome a ton of adversity this season and we were one of the final 64 teams in the state and nobody would've thought that before the season when people were picking us as the 10th best team in the region."
Lindsey also saluted her seniors, Moran and Christen Cropper.
"Both Courtney and Christen both have so much heart and I'm really going to miss both of them," said the coach. "They both play so hard and they really held this team together."
Lindsey added that she's also "extremely happy about the future" of the Lady Royals program.
Mason County was led by sophomore forward Alivia Bierley, who produced a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Simms pitched in 10 points for the Lady Royals.
Senior point guard Chandler Gray chipped in with 10 points to finish as the only other double-figure scorer for the Lady Camels. In addition to Robinson's 25-point night, she grabbed a team-high height boards and came up with five steals.
"Taylor's our quiet leader," said Campbell County coach Michael Murray. "She sets the tone for our defense by being out on the front applying a lot of pressure. She's also in amazing condition, I don't think she ever gets tired. She and Megan (Rauch) are both great competitors and Megan is the most fearless player I've ever coached."
Murray added that the game was a very hard-fought contest.
"It was a very physical game and I think in the postseason the officials just want to let the players decide the game but it was very physical and we're not going to back down," he said. "We jumped out to that big lead but I knew Mason County would make their runs and they did. But we weathered the storm even though we were in a lot of foul trouble."
The first-year coach also spoke about the matchup against the defending champion Indians.
"They're an experienced team and they've obviously been there before," he said. "We battled them when we played them down there (a 68-52 loss on Jan. 14) but we had a stretch where we let it get away. But we talked with the girls at the end of the regular season about the drive for five and tonight was number four. We are where we wanted to be and that's in the finals. I've been walking around school smiling constantly and the community is really behind us. The kids are focused but they're also ecstatic. We just have to get back to practice and get read for Sunday."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/l...z1nyFPejk6
The Lady Camels scored 14 unanswered points to sprint to an 18-3 lead with 6:39 left in the second quarter before Mason responded with a 16-6 run to slice the deficit to five with 2:27 to play in the half. Freshman Cara Green provided the offensive punch for the Lady Royals during the run, scoring eight of her nine total points in a span of 2:29, including a pair of and-ones.
Campbell proceeded to reel off seven consecutive points after the Mason run to regain a 12-point advantage. Junior guard Taylor Robinson, who finished with a game-high 25 points, scored five quick points with a steal and a layup followed by a 3-pointer and junior forward Molly Kitchen added a putback bucket with 1:19 left. Lady Royals sophomore guard Elle Simms scored the final three points of the half to get Mason to within nine at the break.
After the Lady Camels built a 45-31 lead on back-to-back three-point plays from senior guard Megan Rauch. The Lady Royals went on an 11-4 run to make the score 49-42 with 5:54 to play in the game. The run began with consecutive baskets from senior guard Courtney Moran, who scored nine in her final game in blue and white.
Robinson began a 12-5 Lady Camels run with a putback and Campbell sealed the game in the closing moments from the free-throw line, making seven foul shots in the final 2:14.
Campbell (22-10) will meet Montgomery County in the championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Mason County coach Piper Lindsey was encouraged with her team's effort and also reflected on the season.
"I'm very pleased the way we battled back after getting behind early," she said. "We very easily could've folded but we came back and got within five but just couldn't get all the way back. The girls played extremely hard and kept playing but it just wasn't our night. This team has overcome a ton of adversity this season and we were one of the final 64 teams in the state and nobody would've thought that before the season when people were picking us as the 10th best team in the region."
Lindsey also saluted her seniors, Moran and Christen Cropper.
"Both Courtney and Christen both have so much heart and I'm really going to miss both of them," said the coach. "They both play so hard and they really held this team together."
Lindsey added that she's also "extremely happy about the future" of the Lady Royals program.
Mason County was led by sophomore forward Alivia Bierley, who produced a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Simms pitched in 10 points for the Lady Royals.
Senior point guard Chandler Gray chipped in with 10 points to finish as the only other double-figure scorer for the Lady Camels. In addition to Robinson's 25-point night, she grabbed a team-high height boards and came up with five steals.
"Taylor's our quiet leader," said Campbell County coach Michael Murray. "She sets the tone for our defense by being out on the front applying a lot of pressure. She's also in amazing condition, I don't think she ever gets tired. She and Megan (Rauch) are both great competitors and Megan is the most fearless player I've ever coached."
Murray added that the game was a very hard-fought contest.
"It was a very physical game and I think in the postseason the officials just want to let the players decide the game but it was very physical and we're not going to back down," he said. "We jumped out to that big lead but I knew Mason County would make their runs and they did. But we weathered the storm even though we were in a lot of foul trouble."
The first-year coach also spoke about the matchup against the defending champion Indians.
"They're an experienced team and they've obviously been there before," he said. "We battled them when we played them down there (a 68-52 loss on Jan. 14) but we had a stretch where we let it get away. But we talked with the girls at the end of the regular season about the drive for five and tonight was number four. We are where we wanted to be and that's in the finals. I've been walking around school smiling constantly and the community is really behind us. The kids are focused but they're also ecstatic. We just have to get back to practice and get read for Sunday."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/l...z1nyFPejk6
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