THIRD PLACE

The Whitley County Lady Colonels finished third in the Berea Holiday Class, a 32-team tournament held last week in Berea. The Lady Colonels won its first-round game, beating Estill County 60-45 then rolled past Harrison County, 69-38. In the tournament semifinals, the Lady Colonels lost to Calloway County, 50-44, but bounced back in the consolation game to knock off Clarksville Northeast, 66-59.
Whitley Co. 66, Northeast 59
The Lady Colonels may have saved the best for last, a 66-59 win over an outstanding Clarksville (Tn) Northeast team. The Eagles found themselves short two players after a brutal overtime loss to Christian County in the semifinals. Two starters, Alicia Scott and Dawn Evans, went down to ankle sprains against Christian County and were unable to play against the Lady Colonels.
But, six-footers, Mikia Jackson and Raquel Barlow more than made up for their teammate’s absence.
However, Whitley County was determined to show they are indeed one of Southeastern Kentucky’s best. The Lady Colonels rolled out to the lead on a Holly Jones three pointer. But, Jackson and Barlow quickly took over the game and pushed the Eagles ahead 8-5 before Whitley County coach Larry Anderson took a timeout.
The timeout helped as Breanna Rhoades and Jones hit back to back three pointers for an 11-8 Lady Colonel lead. Northeast came right back and took a 16-13 lead at the first stop.
The pace continued to be up-tempo in the second quarter but it was Whitley County pushing the ball up and down the court.
A basket by McCullah and a free throw by Randall Holbrook tied the game at 16-all. Three successful trips up and down the court saw the game tied at 22-22 before Jones nailed a three pointer and sophomore Amber Inman hit a short jumper to put Whitley County ahead, 27-22.
The run continued for Whitley County as the Lady Colonels got two free throws by Rhoades and back to back baskets by Brimm and Jones for an 11-point margin, 33-22. An 11-0 run allowed the Lady Colonels a nice lead going into the second half, 33-24.
Whitley County pushed that lead to 14 points a couple of times in the third quarter, but a dry spell nearly did the Lady Colonels in. Leading 43-39 after a McCullah three pointer with 5:16 on the clock, the Lady Colonels failed to score in the next three minutes while the Eagles put 14 straight points on the board, tying the game on a Jackson basket.
However, the spark plug was 5-4 sophomore Jhordan Watts, who hit four three pointers from the left corner.
Whitley County woke up just in time as McCullah hit a three pointer with 2:12 left. McCullah added five more points before the end of the period and the Lady Colonels led 51-45 at the end of the period.
Anderson’s team pushed the lead out to nine, 58-49 when Holbrook scored on a rebound basket with five minutes remaining. However, the Eagles were not finished. They were able to cut the lead to one, 60-59 when Jackson hit two free throws at the 1:45 mark.
But, Holbrook answered and Brimm got a rebound on a Northeast miss. Her rebound led to a Holbrook basket and a five point margin with 1:05 left .
Northeast failed to convert on its last three shots while Jones added two free throws with ;27 left to ice the game.
“This is one team we didn’t know if we could compete with them coming in,” said Anderson. “But, if we shoot the ball well we can compete with anybody.”
“Tonka (McCullah) wasn’t shooting well in the first half but, Holly (Jones) came through for us,” said Anderson. “When we get both of them started we can play with anyone.”
“Our bench was just great tonight,” added Anderson. “Amber Inman did a great job. She was out-manned in there but just out-worked her. Randal Holbrook started going to the basket late in the game and when she does that, she is almost unstoppable.”
“It was a good team effort,” Anderson said. “It was unfortunate that they had a couple of their better players out tonight. They have a couple of D-1 players out and we knew that.”
“I think this win has to pick us up a little bit,” said Anderson.
Three Lady Colonels finished in double figures. McCullah topped all scorers with 20 points while Jones added 18 points. Holbrook pitched in 13 points.
Jackson led the Eagles with 19 points while Barlow tossed in 14 points and Watts finished with 12 points.

Calloway downs Whitley
“There was a three minute stretch at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter that was the difference in the game,” said Anderson.
Whitley County led most of the game, especially in the first half after taking a 9-6 lead at the end of the first period. Whitley County took a 12-6 lead when McCullah hit a three pointer but the Lady Colonels settled for a two-point margin, 12-10 at the end of one.
In a low scoring second period, the Lady Lakers outscored Whitley County 6-5 but the Lady Colonels went to the dressing room with a 17-16 lead at the half.
Whitley County pushed the lead to four (25-21) on back to back baskets by Randall Holbrook but Calloway County fought back and outscored the Lady Colonels 13-6 in the final four minutes of the quarter and led 34-31 going into the fourth period.
Whitley County managed just one basket in the first four minutes and trailed 46-33 when McCullah went to the line with 3:25 left in the game.
Whitley County then rallied and pulled within two (46-44) with :45 left in the game.
McCullah hit both free throws to start the run at Calloway County. A turnover led to a Brimm basket and after a miss at the Calloway end of the court, McCullah hit two more free throws, cutting the lead to seven (46-39) with 1:31 left.
The defense kicked in and grabbed two straight steals that Brimm and Holly Jones turned into easy baskets, slicing the lead to three.
After Calloway County got away with a double dribble and a missed basket, McCullah went to the line with :45 left. She missed the first throw but converted the second and the Lakers lead was down to two.
Whitley County sent Beth Ross to the line five seconds later and the senior missed the front end of the bonus. The Lady Colonels grabbed the rebounds and McCullah’s three point shot rolled off the rim.
Kayla Cunningham, a 6-2 sophomore, pushed the Lakers ahead by four when she nailed two free throws with :25 left. Whitley County missed once more before Ross was fouled with 8.7 seconds on the clock. She hit both free throws to seal the game.
“We just lost focus of what we were doing,” said Anderson. “We didn’t get where we needed to be in our match-ups and we lost Cunningham a couple of times and she took the game over.” Cunninghan finished with 22 points to lead the Lady Lakers.
“We did a great job coming back,” Anderson said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win there at the end and got ourselves back in the game. Calloway has a nice team and we did a good job. I think we got a little tired but that’s not an excuse, they played three in a row too.”
“We’ve got to learn to come through that when we get tired,” said Anderson. “We’ve got to overcome that.”
McCullah led the Lady Colonels with 13 points followed by Brimm’s 12 points.

Whitley Co. 66, Northeast 59
Whtley Co. 13 20 18 15- 66
Northeast 16 8 21 14- 59
Whitley Co. (66) – McCullah 20, Holbrook 13, Brimm 8, Jones 18, Inman 2, Rhoades 5.
Clarksville Northeast (59) – Watts 12, Singleton 6, Jackson 19, Jenkins 8, Barlow 14.

Calloway Co. 50, Whitley Co. 44
Whitley Co. 12 5 14 13- 44
Calloway Co. 10 6 18 16- 50
Whitley Co. (44) – McCullah 13, Holbrook 8, Brimm 12, Jones 7, Rhoades 2, Gray 2.
Calloway Co. (50) – Cunningham 22, Ross 12, Adams 10, Webb 6.

Whitley Co. 69, Harrison Co. 38
Whitley Co. 20 15 17 20- 69
Harrison Co. 10 6 9 13- 38
Whitley Co. (69) – McCullah 21, Holbrook 6, Brimm 14, Jones 12, Osborne 4, Rhoades 3, Gray 2, Deaton 2, Rose 3, Leach 2.
Harrison Co. (38) – Highlander 3, Turley 6, Bullock 6, Kendall 6, Hatfield 7, Murphy 4, Dennie 4.