LADY COLONEL PRIDE

The last time Whitley County sent their girls team to the state tournament it was 1985 and the coach was Jim Rains, now the head coach of the Williamsburg Lady Jackets. That team will be honored at the 2010 KHSAA event in two weeks.

Was that the motive the current team needed to reach the 13^th Region Tournament that opens Monday at THE ARENA in Corbin. Only time will tell.

The Whitley County Lady Colonels drew the Harlan County Lady Bears in the first-round of the 13^th Region Girls’ Basketball Tournament. The Lady Colonels played Harlan County February 18 at Whitley County and lost that game, 41-38.

It was a game that got away from the Lady Colonels in the fourth quarter.

Whitley County Coach Larry Anderson was pleased with his team’s draw. “Clay County is probably picked to win the region again Getting away from them was the big thing.”

“Anything can happen as we go through the regional tournament,” said Anderson. “We played everybody in the region well, if we can just score a little bit I think we can do well.”

“I think we are the dark horse in this thing,” he said. “If we come in and get hot and put some points on the boards, I think defensively we well keep ourselves in it and give ourselves a chance to win.”
“We played Harlan County and were right in the game,” Anderson said. “It is just a matter of scoring some points against them.”

Harlan County (15-8)  is led by Heather Maggard’s 17.8 ppg average. She has a host of support around her in the likes of Kall Carroll, Whitney Gilliam, Johnnie Parker, Kendra Russell and Samantha Sexton.

North Laurel will face the Pineville Lady Lions in the first game of the tournament, at 6:30 Monday. Tuesday night the top ranked team in the region, Clay County, will take on Lynn Camp at 6:30, followed by the South Laurel Lady Cardinals and the Bell County Lady Cats.
Pineville (12-16) is led by junior guard Chelsey Smith, the 13^th region’s leading scorer. Smith is averaging 30.1 points per game.

The Clay County Lady Tigers are the defending regional champions South Laurel the 2008 region champion, will meet Bell County in the final first-round game. The Lady Cardinals defeated Whitley County to win the 50^th District Tournament. South Laurel (22-7) and Bell County (20-9) have not met this season.

The Lady ‘Cats are led by Jamie Shepherd with a 11.4 scoring average, Brittany Smith, 10.6 and Makayla Neal, 9.0. Whitney Howard and Maci Morris also provide plenty of scoring for Bell County.

The semifinals of the 13^th Region Tournament will be play Friday, March 5^th with the championship slated for Saturday, March 6^th.

Here’s how they ranked heading into the regional tournament based on district tournament play.

1. South Laurel…………..64.5
2. Clay County…………..63.7
3. North Laurel…………..62.3
4. Whitley County……….61.8
5. Harlan County…………60.4
6. Bell County…………….58.9
7. Pineville……………….57.6
8. Lynn Camp……………55.2