[blue1424]

The Marion County High School girls' basketball team had fallen off the radar a bit the past few months after being ranked No. 1 in the state in the preseason.

The Lady Knights had lost their past five games against Top 20 opponents and still were seeking a replacement for senior three-point shooting threat Brooke Roberts, who left the team in December.

But on Tuesday, Marion County again looked like a contender for a state championship.

Bre Elder and Makayla Epps had big scoring nights and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers blocked a shot in the final seconds as Marion County beat host Mercy 51-47.

“This is very big for our confidence,” Lady Knights coach Trent Milby said. “I told them before the game that if they can come up here and win this game, then people are going to look at the score and say, ‘Marion County is back.' ”

Elder scored 18 and Epps added 16 for the Lady Knights (20-6), who are No. 8 in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings.

Whitney Hartlage scored 15 and Juliann Miller 10 to lead the No. 3 Jaguars (20-6), who have lost three of their past five games — all to top-10 opponents.

“I thought (Marion County) played a **** of a game,” Mercy coach Mark Evans said. “I've always felt they have the talent to be on top. They continued their intensity throughout the game tonight.”

The teams now have split four games dating to Feb. 16, 2010, Mercy won 52-50 on Jan. 28 in the quarterfinals of the Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Louisville Invitational Tournament.

This time Marion County got off to a hot start, leading by as many as nine points before settling on a 32-26 halftime lead.

Milby said he planned to start the game with a 2-3 zone to avoid foul trouble but changed his mind.

“I could tell in warm-ups that they were focused,” he said. “So it was like, ‘Let's just throw it out there and go man-to-man and see what happens.' ”

Evans said the first half was key, as his team shot 44.4 percent but missed several easy shots and had stretches of “stagnant play.”

“If you don't make layups after you make pretty passes, it goes for naught,” he said. “Instead of being up a few, we were down (six) at halftime.”

But Mercy put together one of its patented runs in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-2 surge to take a 47-44 lead on Kayla Richardson's basket with 2:33 remaining.

Patrice Tonge's basket tied it with 1:28 left, and Elder's free throw gave the Lady Knights a 48-47 edge with 55.2 seconds left.

Elder made 1 of 2 free throws with 9.5 seconds left to make it 49-47, setting up Mercy's final chance. Lauren Faris drove to the basket, but Goodin-Rogers was there to record her third blocked shot of the game.

Epps sank two free throws with 1.5 second left to complete Marion County's 7-0 game-ending run. The Jaguars missed their final eight shots.

Epps said her team was rattled during Mercy's fourth-quarter run but finally found its composure.

“When they beat us in the LIT it motivated us, especially to beat them on their home court,” she said. “We were way more motivated this time. We wanted to make a statement.”

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...t|Sports|s

[blue1424]

Marion Co. 16 16 7 12 51
Mercy 12 14 6 15 47

Marion Co. (19-6) -- Epps 16, Tonge 7, Elder 18, Powell 4, Goodin-Rogers 6.
Mercy (20-5) -- Faris 2, Goetz 6, Hartlage 15, Co. Roush 4, Ch. Roush 8, Miller 8, Richardson 4.

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/11/23/15374...PIorderBy=

[LWC]

That is a good win, but I think the coaches are over-thinking it a little.