Thanks to St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine for sponsoring our girls’ high school basketball coverage this season. See all of our girls’ basketball stories here and watch for state tournament coverage March 9-13 from BB&T Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Senior guard Ansley Davenport scored 10 of her game-high 35 points in overtime and Newport Central Catholic defeated Glasgow, 70-65, in Friday’s quarterfinal round of the Kentucky All “A” Classic girls’ state basketball tournament at Frankfort Convention Center.
Glasgow scored six straight points in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to tie the score, 58-58, and send the game into overtime. But Davenport, the only senior on the NewCath roster, made two field goals and all six of her free throws during the extra period to carry the Thoroughbreds to the victory.
NewCath (16-6) will play Murray (22-1) in the semifinals of the small-school state tournament at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship game at noon.
Murray entered the tournament with the best record and highest power ranking among the 16 teams in the field and won its first two games by margins of 16 and 28 points.
Davenport played the entire 36 minutes in NewCath’s quarterfinal game. In addition to scoring half of her team’s points, she had seven rebounds, three assists and five steals.
NewCath’s other double-figures scorers were junior guard Olivia Schalk with 14 points and sophomore guard Lexy Breen with 11. Both of them also had five assists. Junior forward Meg Martin snagged a game-high nine rebounds for the Thoroughbreds, who finished with a 36-27 advantage on the boards.
NewCath took double-digit leads in the second and third quarters, but Glasgow battled back behind the play of junior guard Elli Bartley and senior forward Bree Glover. Bartley scored 28 points and Glover had 25 for the Scotties.
With 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Bartley was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made three free throws to tie the score. NewCath worked the clock down to two seconds before Breen put up a shot that missed. But Davenport stepped up in overtime to keep the Thoroughbreds in contention for their second state title.
NewCath has now made it to the semifinals of the All “A” Classic girls’ state tournament 11 times in 13 appearances. The only year the Thoroughbreds won the state title was 2010.
MURRAY 64, WALTON-VERONA 36
Murray opened the game with a 20-8 run and kept the lead in double digits the rest of way to knock off Walton-Verona, 64-36, in the quarterfinals of the Kentucky All “A” Classic girls’ state tournament on Friday at Frankfort Convention Center.
Murray, the top-ranked team in the tournament, extended its record to 22-1 and takes a 16-game winning streak into Saturday’s semifinal game against Newport Central Catholic at 1:30 p.m.
Walton-Verona (15-6) struggled on offense in Friday’s game and finished with its lowest scoring total of the season. The Bearcats shot 38.5 percent (15 of 39) from the field and commited 16 turnovers. The team’s leading scorer was senior forward Hailey Ison with 10 points, which was 14 below her season average coming into the game.
Murray scored 21 points off turnovers and ended up shooting 50 percent (20 of 40) from the field. The Tigers also had a 15-2 scoring advantage at the free throw line.
Walton-Verona trailed by 18 points, 32-14, when the second half started and pulled to within 12 points, 35-23, on a basket by Ison with 3:01 left in the third quarter. But the Bearcats’ rally faltered and Murray took a 51-31 lead early in the fourth quarter. The margin kept getting bigger after that.
The Tigers had four double-figure scorers, led by Lily Ramey with 17 points. She’s the only senior in Murray’s starting lineup along with one junior and three sophomores.
KENTUCKY ALL “A” CLASSIC AT FRANKFORT CONVENTION CENTER
GIRLS’ STATE TOURNAMENT
Friday – Quarterfinals
Owensboro Catholic 54, Shelby Valley 37
Harlan 67, Frankfort 50
Murray 64, Walton-Verona 36
Newport Central Catholic 70, Glasgow 65 OT
Saturday – Semifinals
Owensboro Catholic vs. Harlan, 12 p.m.
Murray vs. Newport Central Catholic, 1:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 12 p.m.