[Stardust]

Sunday was a banner day for Boone County at the Ninth Region basketball tournaments. Make that a double-banner day.

Just hours after the Boone County boys' basketball team locked up the regional championship with a win in the final over Newport Central Catholic, the Boone County girls outlasted Notre Dame Academy, 62-58, in overtime to win their final at Bank of Kentucky Center.

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It's the first time since Highlands in 2001 that the Ninth Region basketball championships went to the same school. The Boone County girls won an 11th regional title, the ninth under coach Nell Fookes.

Boone County (30-3), the top-ranked team in the final Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, plays 11th Region champion Paul Lawrence Dunbar (28-6) in Wednesday's 2:30 p.m. (EST) KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament first-round game at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green. Notre Dame, ranked third, finished 25-6.

"This is a great day," Fookes said. "The government of Florence should name this Boone County High School Honorary Day and (boys' coach) Greg McQueary and I can be co-mayors."

A double-dose of Rebel yell might not have been without the scoring of girls' standouts Sydney Moss (27 points) and Lydia Nash (24) who combined for 82 percent of Boone County's offense.

"We couldn't have won it without Moss," said Rebels point guard Jessica Jones, who scored four points and came up with clutch tipped passes and steals. "She's just so good."

Moss, the Rebels' Florida recruit and a Miss Kentucky basketball candidate, added to her stature. She was named tournament most valuable player after taking over the extra period by scoring 10 points. She scored six in the final 20 seconds after Hannah Thelen's free throw gave the Pandas a 58-56 lead with 28.4 to play.

Boone zipped down court and Moss hit a jumper in the lane to tie it. Following a Notre Dame time out with 9.4 left, Jones tipped the Pandas' inbound ball into the hands of Nash, who passed ahead to Moss. The senior forward hit the layup and was fouled to give the Rebels the lead for good, 60-58, with 1.1 left. Moss' ensuing free-throw attempt hit the front of the rim and the ball bounced right back to her. She picked it up and scored as time expired.

"You could tell on their faces they were down after the and-one," Moss said of the Pandas.

Thelen had tied it at 50 on a basket with 16 seconds remaining in regulation. There were 11 tie scores and lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Pandas' Jourdan Rahschulte (11 points) tied it twice with a pair of 3-pointers. Olivia Voskuhl led Notre Dame with 24 points.

"It was one of those games that could go either way," said Notre Dame coach Nicole Levandusky.

The Pandas had the ball with 12.2 to go in the fourth but Chandler Clark's inbound pass following a timeout was tipped by Jones. Moss picked it up and was fouled going to the basket with 5.1 left. She missed the free throw and a scramble ensued for the loose ball as time ran out.

"I was kind of anticipating their passes," said Jones who was named all-tournament along with Nash and Notre Dame's Rahschulte and Voskuhl. "Anything coming in, I was going to get a hand on it and try to grab it."

Notre Dame came up short in its bid for a first regional crown since 2007 after holding Moss to 17 points in regulation.

"Moss is a very good player. She does it on both ends of the court," Levandusky said. "But you can't let others hurt you and we did that."
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