Lady Cats advance in 51st District tourney

Lady Cats Head Coach Richard Jones 

The 2015 51^st District tournament kicked off Wednesday evening at Pineville High School with two semifinal games in the girls’ bracket. First, the Knox Central Lady Panthers dominated Barbourville 59-17, and then the Lynn Camp Lady Wildcats met up with the host Lady Mountain Lions for the third time this season.

The first time these two squads squared off was at Lynn Camp High School during the Bowman Memorial Classic back in December. The Lady Cats won that game easily, 57-30. It was a slightly different story in January, when Lynn Camp traveled to Pineville. They won again, but this time by a much closer margin, 49-42.

Wednesday’s game was very competitive, and with only 3:30 left in regulation the Lady Cats held on to a narrow 35-32 lead. They were able to pull away from there, however, eventually going on to win by a final score of 46-37. The victory puts them at 14-11 on the year, and qualifies them to appear in the 13^th Region tournament for the third year in a row.

“Hat’s off to my seniors (Breanna Hollin, Miranda Miller, Destiny Hill),” said Lynn Camp Head Coach Richard Jones after the win. “They played great. I had to sit them down and have a heart-to-heart with them the other day, and they have really responded. As for the team as a whole, we made some changes and adjustments tonight, but they went out there and executed. This is a great win for us. We have a tough game coming up on Saturday, but hopefully we’ll be ready for it.”

Tipoff for the girls’ 51^st District championship between Lynn Camp and Knox Central (14-8) is set for 2:00 PM Saturday at Pineville High School. The Lady Panthers have bested the Lady Cats on two occasions already this season, winning 43-35 on January 16, and 47-43 on January 22. Perhaps the third time will be the charm for coach Jones and company with a district title on the line.

The 51^st District boys’ championship tournament is scheduled to kick off tomorrow (Thursday) with Lynn Camp (10-17) facing Knox Central (16-11) and Barbourville (18-8) facing Pineville (17-9). Be sure to pick up the March 4 edition of The News Journal for final results of coverage area district tournaments, as well as coverage from the early rounds of this year’s 13^th Region tournament, which is scheduled to begin Monday, March 2 at The Arena in Corbin.

Lynn Camp 46, Pineville 37

Lynn Camp – 14  5  9  18  –  46

Pineville  –   9   5   8   15   –   37

Lynn Camp – Brooklyn Bryant 12, Miranda Miller 9, Bradi Coe 8, Destiny Hill 6, Ginger White 6, Breanna Hollin 5

Pineville – Autumn Short 14, Jill Enix 12, Shayne Raftery 6, Morgan Thompson 4, Rachel Barnes 1

Lynn Camp Lady Cat Brooklyn Bryant