By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Most of the teams that earned berths in the Houchens Industries/KHSAA girls’ state tournament this week are from county high schools that have enrollments much larger than Holy Cross.
Yet the team from the small Catholic school in Covington made it to the championship final and will play Allen County-Scottsville in Sunday’s title game at Diddle Arena. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. local time, which is 2 p.m. in Bowling Green.
“We might only have 350 to 400 kids in our school, but you can only play with five (players) on the floor,” Holy Cross coach Kes Murphy said. “So size doesn’t matter. We’ve got kids who play with fight and heart and represent our school like no other.”
Holy Cross defeated Louisville Male, 47-37, in the state semifinals on Saturday to make it to the championship game in their first state tournament appearance since 1976.
The Indians have held each of their first three state tournament opponents to 40 points or less with a match-up zone defense, and Male coach Champ Ligon Jr. expects that to carry them to the title.
“I think you’re looking at the state championship team right there,” Ligon said. “They may prove me wrong, but it’s going to take something special to beat them.”
Allen County-Scottsville defeated Mason County, 49-42, in Saturday’s other semifinal game to set up a rematch with Holy Cross in the season finale. Last December, Allen County-Scottsville defeated Holy Cross, 61-54, but the Indians played that game without leading scorer Deja Turner, who was sidelined by a foot injury at that time.
“They’re a different team with Deja Turner on the floor,” said Allen County-Scottsville coach Brad Bonds. “The match-up zone that they run is very, very good. They’re well-drilled and well-skilled within it. We’ll go back and look at some films and make some adjustments for that. But, I’ll tell you what, we’re going to give it all we’ve got.”
Rebounding was a key factor in the Indians’ semifinal victory. They finished with a 37-28 advantage on the boards, including 22 defensive rebounds that limited Male to just seven second-chance points.
Holy Cross senior center Ally Mayhaus pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with her 12 points. She snagged eight missed shots on the defensive glass and had four blocks.
“It’s not just me, it’s the whole team,” Mayhaus said of her team’s defensive success. “I help on the backside, but it really starts up top with our guards.”
Male ended up shooting 29.5 percent (13 of 44) from the field. The team’s only double-figure scorer was guard Emilia Sexton with 12 points and she got six of those in the first four minutes of the game. In the second half, the Bulldogs made just 6 of 25 attempts for 24 percent.
“We missed some shots that we usually make, but the credit goes to (Holy Cross),” coach Ligon said. “They play a nice match-up zone and with so little time to prepare we struggled with that at times.”
Turner scored a game-high 20 points for Holy Cross. She got 13 of her team’s 28 points in the second half when the Indians turned a one-point halftime lead into a 10-point victory.
After trailing for most of the first half, Holy Cross took a 19-18 lead in the final seconds on a driving basket by junior point guard Dajah McClendon, who had four points, two assists and two steals at the halftime break.
In the third quarter, Holy Cross ran off 10 straight points to open up a 31-20 lead. During that run, Male committed three turnovers and went 0-for-3 from the field with Mayhaus blocking one of the shots.
The Bulldogs pulled to within six points, 31-25, early in the fourth quarter. But Turner hit a short jumper and a 3-point shot to spark an 11-5 run that gave the Indians a 42-30 lead with 2:15 left on the clock.
Holy Cross sealed the win by making five of eight free throws with sophomore guard Aleah Tucker hitting all four of her attempts.
This is the second time in three years that a 9th Region team has made it to the girls’ state final. Notre Dame lost to Marion County in the 2013 title game.
HOLY CROSS 6-13-12-16 — 47
LOU. MALE 7-11-5-14 — 37
HOLY CROSS (32-3): Turner 6 7 20, McClendon 2 1 5, Hassert 1 0 2, Tucker 0 8 8, Mayhaus 6 0 12. Totals: 15 16 47.
LOU. MALE (26-5): Calvert 0 1 1, Iliyah Green 2 5 9, Sexton 5 0 12, Jackson 2 0 4, Harbison 1 2 4, Browning 2 0 4, India Green 1 1 3. Totals: 13 9 37.
Three-pointers: HC — Turner. LM — Sexton.