PAY BACK

When they last met the South Laurel Lady Cardinals came from behind in the fourth quarter and forced an overtime to beat the Whitley County Lady Colonels. Pay backs can be tough or they can be fun.
For the Lady Colonels Monday night’s 54-53 win over South Laurel was fun. It was a reversal from the game played at South Laurel High. This time it was Whitley County who trailed in the fourth quarter. The Lady Colonels looked defeat in the eye with five minutes left in the game.
Especially after Porscha Justice hit a basket that put South Laurel ahead 50-39. It was the Lady Cardinals longest lead of the game and they had just started the quarter with a 7-2 run in the first three minutes of the period.
“Once we got down by 11, I didn’t know if we had a chance or not,” said Whitley County coach Larry Anderson. “The kids showed a lot of heart, especially after coming off that loss to Corbin and having to come back and play with that kind of emotion.”
“I felt like we lost our intensity late in the third quarter and first of the fourth quarter,” said Anderson.
But, Holly Jones sparked a rally that would win the game when she hit a three pointer with 5:13 left in the game. Anderson quickly called a timeout and told his players to pick up the pace.
Lauren Wombles responded with a basket inside the paint after the time-out but Randall Holbrook was fouled going for a shot and hit both free throws with four minutes on the clock.
A turnover by South Laurel gave the ball back to the Lady Colonels and Jones went in for a basket and the lead was down to six with 3:18 left.
With only two fouls against the Lady Colonels, Anderson told his team during a time-out with 2:16 left that if they didn’t steal the ball before half-court they would have to foul.
After coming out of the time-out, the Lady Cardinals turned the ball over and Stephanie McCullah went to the basket but was fouled. She hit one of two from the line and cut the lead to five (52-47) with 1:46 left.
Whitley County finally put South Laurel into the bonus with 1:37 left to play and sent Wombles to the line where she missed two free throws.
The Lady Colonels hit the boards hard and Holbrook grabbed a missed basket and tried to put it back in. She was fouled and sank both free throws at the 1:29 mark, closing the gap to three (52-49).
Johnna Sizemore hit one of two twenty seconds later for South Laurel’s final point.
McCullah trailed a three pointer with :54 left and the smell of comeback was evident. Sizemore went back to the line but missed the front end of a bonus with :44 ticks left. The Lady Colonels worked the ball around and Osborne got loose for a lay-up with :17 that put Whitley County ahead, 54-53.
South Laurel got the ball across mid-court and called time-out with :12 left. South Laurel called a second time-out and Anderson followed with a third time-out as the two battled.
The Lady Cardinals got the shot they were looking for when Wombles tried a hook shoot in the paint, but the ball rimmed off and Holbrook grabbed the rebound and held on for the win.
“They missed a couple of big free throw shots there at the end and we capitalized on it,” said Anderson.
There were four ties in the first quarter as the two ended the period deadlocked at 15-15. The second quarter saw the teams tied at 21-all before South Laurel went on a 6-1 run and led 27-22 at the half. Whitley County went the final five minutes of the quarter without a basket.
However, Whitley County came out strong to start the third period and went on a 11-4 run as Holbrook had six of her game high 22 points. Jones also had a three pointer to push the Lady Colonels ahead 35-33 at the 4:03 mark.
McCullah finished the game with 13 points while Jones added 10 points.
The Lady Colonels will host Williamsburg Friday night in their final district-seeded game.

South Laurel 15 14 14 10- 53
Whitley Co. 15 9 13 17- 54
South Laurel (53) – Smith 12, Wombles 14, Justice 13, Sizemore 1, McWhorter 11, Clark 2.
Whitley Co. (54) – McCullah 13, Holbrook 22, Brimm 4, Jones 10, Osborne 2, Rhoades 2, Gray 1.