Continuous coverage: 2018 All “A” state championship tournaments

Continue to check here for updates on both the girls’ and the boys’ All “A” state championship tournaments, being played this week at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.

Saturday Update: The Williamsburg Lady Jackets’ historic run in the 2018 All “A” state championship tournament came to an end in the semifinal round Saturday afternoon as they fell to a talented Shelby Valley team 49-33 at EKU in Richmond.

Shelby Valley was able to build up a 21-point lead at one point in the ballgame, but a determined Lady Jackets squad cut that lead down to just ten points in the third quarter. Valley was simply too much, however, going on to win by a 16-point margin.

Williamsburg will now return home with a 15-6 overall record, and will host Corbin Tuesday evening in a 50th District matchup. For more information on the championship games of this year’s boys’ and girls’ All “A” state championship tourneys, visit allaclassic.org.

Shelby Valley 49, Williamsburg 33
S. Valley – 12 19 11 7 – 49
W’burg – 6 8 15 4 – 33
WB – Tye 12, Hall 4, Abbott 4, K. Gibson 9, Lester 4

Friday Update: Williamsburg Lady Jackets vs. Walton-Verona – All “A” state tournament quarterfinals at EKU, Richmond

A low-scoring first quarter ended with a tied ballgame Friday morning, 7-7. The back-and-forth action continued in the second quarter, but seven points from Lillie Abbott helped Williamsburg gain a slight edge and head into the half with a 19-18 lead.

The defensive battle continued into the third, ending with the game all knotted up again, this time at 30-30. With under a minute left in the contest Williamsburg held onto a two-point lead, but Walton-Verona was able to tie the game, 43-43, with a shot just 11 seconds before the final whistle in regulation. The Lady Jackets had an opportunity to win the game moments later, but could not get the shot off before the buzzer.

In overtime, a basket by senior Kayla Gibson put Williamsburg up 47-45. Lillie Hall then hit two free throws to extend the Lady Jackets’ lead to 49-45. Walton-Verona was able to get one more shot off, but two more Hall free throws gave Williamsburg the thrilling 51-47 victory.

“I’m just so proud of the girls,” said head coach Randy Crider after the game. “They came out and played so hard today. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

The Lady Jackets will now advance to the All “A” semifinals, where they will face Shelby Valley Saturday at noon. Look here for more updates as they become available.

Williamsburg 49, Walton-Verona 45
Williamsburg – 7 12 11 13 8 – 51
Walton-Verona – 7 11 12 13 4 – 49
WB – Tye 4, Hall 18, Abbott 15, K. Gibson 9, Lester 2, Chapman 3

Thursday Update: The 2018 boys All “A” state championship tournament got underway Thursday morning at EKU with the Lynn Camp Wildcats taking on Beechwood in the first game of the day at 8:30 AM.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their opponents were firing on all cylinders as the Tigers were able to cruise to a 72-39 first round victory. The win advances them to play either Knott County Central in the tournament quarterfinals Friday.

As for Lynn Camp, they will return home with a 15-3 overall record, and are scheduled to travel to Red Bird next Monday, January 29.

Beechwood 72, Lynn Camp 39
Beechwood – 17 16 17 22 – 72
Lynn Camp – 6 15 8 10 – 39
LC – Tanner Boggs 11, Josh Overbay 10, Max Burd 4, Scott Overbay 11, Jacob Belew 3

Original (Wednesday): The 2018 girls All “A” state championship tournament kicked off Wednesday inside Eastern Kentucky University’s Alumni Coliseum. In the fourth game of the day, the Williamsburg Lady Jackets faced off against Lyon County. The Lady Jackets dominated the early stages of the contest, establishing a ten-point lead early in the second quarter, 13-3.

The Lyons were able to cut into that lead shortly after, but Williamsburg battled back, re-establishing a ten point advantage, 19-9, before eventually going into halftime with a 19-11 lead.

Lyon County got off to a hot start in the second half, drawing to within one point, 19-18, with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Lady Jackets were once again able to pull together and take back control of the ball game. Three-point baskets by Madison Chapman and Lillie Hall would later put the Lyons back on the ropes, forcing them to take a timeout with 1:32 left in the third as they trailed 31-18.

At this point the momentum had completely swung back into Williamsburg’s favor, and the Lady Jackets were able to ride that momentum all the way to a 46-32 final decision, advancing them to the tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

After the game, Lady Jackets head coach Randy Crider said, “I was proud of the girls to be able to stay focused, and fight through a little bit of adversity during the game. The maturity they showed in being able to do that was great.”

As for how his team handled competing on a state championship stage for the first time, he said, “I think both teams were a little stressed about it, but they’ve been doing this since they were little girls. It might be a bigger arena, maybe a little louder, but this is the same thing. There’s nothing different about the game. In the end you still have to dribble the ball, and get it in the basket.”

Williamsburg will now face Walton-Verona in the tournament quarterfinals this Friday morning at 10:00 AM. Results from that game will be posted here when they become available.

Williamsburg 46, Lyon Co 32
W’burg – 11 8 12 15 – 46
Lyon Co – 3 8 12 9 – 32
WB – Kelsey Tye 8, Tori Lester 4, Lillie Hall 19, Lillie Abbott 4, Kayla Gibson 6, Madison Chapman 5