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Walton-Verona 52 - South Oldham 47 (8th Region Championship)
#1
Final

Back to back championships for Walton-Verona.

Courtney Sandlin was named tournament MVP.
#2
LAWRENCEBURG, KY. — Walton-Verona again spoiled South Oldham’s dream of playing in the Girls’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament by winning the Eighth Region final 52-47 Sunday at the Anderson County High School gym.

“We never thought Walton-Verona would win one regional, and now we’ve won two (in a row),” Coach Mark Clinkenbeard said after his Bearcats snapped South Oldham’s 10-game winning streak. “This is incredible.”

Walton-Verona, a school of 475 students in grades 9 through 12, limited South Oldham star Jasmine Whitfield to eight points (she was averaging 22.8) and got 21 points from 6-foot junior Courtney Sandlin and 15 from Kara Taulbee while improving their record to 29-4.

Taulbee hit three 3-pointers and Sandlin made two. “I can step out and shoot the three, but I do most of my damage inside,” Sandlin said. “South Oldham is a real good team so we were not surprised they made a run at us (late in the game).”

Walton-Verona now advances to the Girls’ Sweet 16 where it will play the Fifth Region champion — either Marion County or Elizabethtown — at 2:30 p.m. (EST) Thursday at Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.

South Oldham (27-5) shot poorly for three quarters and fell behind 35-24 going into the final period. However, the Lady Dragons rallied behind senior Emily Housley and got to within one point, 46-45, when Lissa Gamsky hit a three with 1:23 remaining.

Housley led the rally, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 1:08 left. Sandlin then made a three-point play for a 49-45 lead, and when Whitfield fouled out with 39.8 seconds to go, Taulbee sank two free throws for a 51-45 lead.

Taulbee later added another free throw before South Oldham’s Maddie Wright scored on a rebound with 0.4 second left.

Housley called the loss “very disappointing.” It was Walton-Verona that beat South Oldham, 47-45, in the 2011 regional semifinals and earlier this season South Oldham lost to the Bearcats, 48-45.

“I hadn’t been shooting well lately, but when Whitfield got in foul trouble, somebody had to step up; and I got hot,” said Housley, whose late threes brought South Oldham within striking distance at 36-31, 40-37 and 44-40.

Whitfield, who scored 29 points in a semifinal win over Simon Kenton on Saturday, made only 4 of 10 field-goal tries and missed her only free throw attempt.

However, she grabbed seven rebounds and made four steals. Mary Dye had eight points and nine rebounds for South Oldham.

“We didn’t want to let Whitfield get any easy shots,” coach Clinkenbeard said. “We wanted her to work for everything she got because she can dominate a game.”

South Oldham 6 12 6 23 - 47
Walton-Verona 10 9 16 17 - 52

South Oldham (27-5) - Housley 15, Whitfield 8, Dye 8, Gamsky 5, Sanford 4, Wright 5, Beaudrie 2.
Walton-Verona (29-6) - Sandlin 21, Taulbee 15, Clinkenbeard 5, Judy 2, Slavey 3, Hoffa 2, Ginn 3, Mullikin 1.

3-point goals - Housley 3, Dye, Wright, Gamsky, Taulbee 3, Sandlin 2, Ginn, Slavey.

http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/article...47?Avis=B2

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