[Stardust]

FRANKFORT – Even though his team was rated No. 1 by the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings heading into the Touchstone Energy All ‘A’ Classic State Tournament, Monroe County head coach Dwayne Murray was worried about how to defend Walton-Verona and the Lady Bearcats showed why on Friday.

Walton-Verona, the No. 2-rated team in the tournament, used its size advantage inside to build a 27-13 halftime lead, then got three third-quarter three-pointers from senior guard Kara Taulbee in a surprisingly easy 61-39 victory at Frankfort Convention Center.

Eighth Region champion Walton-Verona (17-4), which is participating in its third straight All ‘A’ Classic State Tournament, advances to play defending All ‘A’ Classic state champion Owensboro Catholic in an 11:30 a.m. semifinal game on Saturday. It’s just the second time in the 21-year history of the tournament that Walton-Verona has advanced to the semifinals.

Monroe County (19-3), which was ranked No. 6 in the most recent Associated Press state poll, had lost just once to a team from Kentucky all season and its average margin of victory was 23.4 points per game, but Walton-Verona dominated from the middle of the first quarter on when it rallied from a 7-2 deficit. The Lady Bearcats shot 52.3 percent from the field and held Monroe County to 35.0 percent.

Walton-Verona junior forward Courtney Sandlin made 9 of 12 shots from the field on the way to scoring a game-high 20 points, nine in the second quarter when the Lady Bearcats outscored Monroe County, 13-3, and Taulbee made 5 of 7 three-pointers, including going 3 of 3 in the first 5:28 of the third quarter as the lead grew to 42-23.