By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Can they win the game without her?
That was the question on people’s minds when Ryle all-state point guard Maddie Scherr sprained her right ankle in the opening minutes of the 9th Region championship game against Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at BB&T Arena.
Scherr limped into the locker room with the help of the team’s trainer and didn’t play the rest of the game. But her teammates pulled together and defeated Notre Dame, 47-44, to keep the Miss Kentucky Basketball candidate’s senior season going.
“I’m just so proud of them for pulling it out and staying strong,” said Scherr, who had an ice bag taped to her ankle after the win. “They didn’t let it get them down when they saw me go out, and I was proud of them for that.”
The Raiders (22-11), who won last year’s state title, will play 14th Region champion Letcher County Central (25-10) in the opening round of the 2020 Mingua Beef/KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rupp Arena.
Scherr said she expects to be on the court Wednesday. If she isn’t, her teammates have shown they can win a big game without the four-year starter, who is ranked among the nation’s top 20 girls high school basketball players.
“All I can say is wow,” Ryle coach Katie Haitz said after her team’s accomplishment Sunday. “No one can take (Scherr’s) spot, but they all stepped up and did the things they needed to do for us to win the ball game.”
This is the third straight year that Ryle has won the 9th Region tournament. The Raiders won the last two championship games by wide margins, but Sunday’s final went down to the wire.
After Notre Dame tied the score, 32-32, in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Ryle junior guard Brie Crittendon scored 11 of her game-high 18 points during the Raiders game-winning 15-10 run. She received the tournament’s most valuable player award for what she did with the game on the line.
“I follow in Maddie’s footsteps a lot so with her being out it just made me feel like the leader,” Crittendon said.
Ryle took a 39-32 lead because Notre Dame wasn’t able to score on six straight possessions. On the first two possessions, Crittendon made a steal and blocked a shot. Two traveling calls on Notre Dame guard Lacey Bradshaw also contributed to the Pandas’ scoreless drought.
“That’s part of the game,” said Notre Dame coach Kes Murphy. “That’s how they were calling it, although there was a lot of physicality in the post. I don’t know what to do in that situation, so it is what it is. You learn from it and get stronger and win despite the officials.”
There were five lead changes during the first half that ended with Ryle on top, 22-19. At the break, Ryle was shooting 53 percent (7 of 13) from the field compared to Notre Dame’s 26 percent (5 of 19) and the Raiders had one more 3-point goal than the Pandas.
A 3-pointer by senior guard Jaiden Douthitt put Ryle on top, 27-21, early in the third quarter, but Notre Dame tied the score at 29-29 and 32-32 after that.
In the fourth quarter, Ryle went 4-of-6 from the field and 7-of-10 at the line to secure the victory. Notre Dame was 4-of-13 from the field, 3-of-5 from the line and committed five turnovers during those final eight minutes.
“They stepped up defensively,” Murphy said of Ryle. “We had open looks and just couldn’t finish. We had the right people taking the right shots, but they just didn’t fall. And then on the misses, we had nobody rebounding.”
For the game, Ryle shot 51.8 percent (14 of 27) from the field with 16 turnovers and finished with a 14-11 scoring advantage at the free throw line. Notre Dame shot 34.1 percent (14 of 41) with 10 turnovers.
The Pandas’ leading scorers were Bradshaw with 14 points and Macie Feldman with 11. They are two of the seven sophomores coach Murphy used extensively this season when the Pandas won 25 games and made it to the regional final for the first time since 2014.
“I feel as though we should’ve won the (championship) game and we didn’t,” Murphy said. “We didn’t have our best game, so the challenge and message that we end on is we’ve got to get better as players and as a team to make sure we don’t experience failure again.”
Ryle (22-11) will return to the state tournament with a starting lineup that includes two seniors, one junior, one freshman and an eighth-grader. Three of them — Scherr, Crittendon and Douthitt — were starters on last year’s state championship team.
“Hopefully, we’ll get Maddie able to play again and go down there and make a run,” coach Haitz said. “She does a lot for us. She allows Brie and Jaiden and all those other girls to be in different spots. Brie just stepped up (Sunday) and carried us on her back, and I’m awfully proud of her.”
RYLE 8 14 10 15 — 47
NOTRE DAME 10 9 12 11 — 42
RYLE (22-11): Eubank 2 1 5, Crittendon 5 9 20, Holtman 3 0 8, Scherr 1 0 3, Douthitt 3 0 7, Baker 0 4 4. Totals: 14 14 47.
NOTRE DAME (25-7): Hicks 0 2 2, Feldman 4 3 11, Hemmer 0 1 1, Thelen 2 1 6, MacKnight 2 2 8, Bradshaw 6 2 14. Totals: 14 11 42.
3-pointers: R — Holtman 2, Crittendon, Scherr, Douthitt. ND — MacKnight 2, Thelen.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ryle — Brie Crittendon (MVP), Maddie Scherr, Jaiden Douthitt. Notre Dame — Lacey Bradshaw, Macie Feldman. Conner — Tyra Murphy, Maddie Drummonds. Dixie Heights — Sydney Lockard, Samantha Berman. Holy Cross — Jade Simpson. NewCath — Riley Turner. Highlands — Maggie Hinegardner. Ludlow — Abby Mahan.
Basketball regional tournament games
9TH REGION BOYS AT BB&T ARENA
Monday
St. Henry (25-4) vs. Covington Catholic (27-5), 6:30 p.m.
Conner (23-5) vs. Highlands (27-3), 8 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship game, 7:30 p.m.
10TH REGION BOYS AT GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
Monday
Brossart (25-6) vs. George Rogers Clark (26-7), 6 p.m.
Campbell County (18-14) vs. Montgomery County (21-12), 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship game, 7 p.m.
I feel as though we should’ve won the (championship) game and we didn’t,” Murphy said. “We didn’t have our best game, so the challenge and message that we end on is we’ve got to get better as players and as a team to make sure we don’t experience failure again.”
Hmmmmmmmmmm, so they failed because they didn’t win? You fail when you don’t compete. Great example for a catholic school in sportsmanship by leaving the floor and not being with the team for getting a “failures” trophy.