By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports writer
WARSAW — What’s the chances of a Kentucky high school basketball team making it to the state tournament with one eighth-grader, three freshman and one senior in the starting lineup?
That’s what Simon Kenton did Sunday with a 66-55 win over Grant County in the championship game of the 8th Region girls basketball tournament at Gallatin County High School.
Amid a joyous post-game celebration, coach Brenden Stowers said it wasn’t easy but his young team got it done. The Pioneers will play Henderson County in the first round of the “Sweet 16” state tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Rupp Arena.
“It took a long road to get here, but once you start believing you just take off,” said Stowers, a first-year head coach.
“Our girls had the talent, they just needed the experience. All year long we just kept trying to get them experience, putting them in tough situations and playing tough teams.”
Simon Kenton (18-14) lost close games against Grant County (20-11) during the regular season and in the 32rd District final.
But the Pioneers took a 15-13 lead early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game and never fell behind to claim the team’s first region championship since 2018.
“We had close games against them two times before so this time we knew what we had to do to get that win and be region champions,” said Emilee Eggleston, the only senior in Simon Kenton’s starting lineup.
Late in the third quarter, a basket by freshman Anna Kelch gave the Pioneers their biggest lead of the game, 47-34, but Grant County didn’t fold. Simon Kenton was ahead, 47-38, going into the fourth quarter and made 15 of 20 free throws to come out on top.
The Pioneers’ only two field goals in the final quarter were by freshman post player Haylie Webb, who was named most valuable player on the region all-tournament team.
“She cleans up everything down low,” Stowers said of Webb. “She’s always in there battling, sometimes one-on-four. She works extremely hard down there and, like I said, sometimes all by herself.”
The game’s leading scorer was Simon Kenton eighth-grade point guard Brynli Pernell with 18 points. She’s a 5-foot-2 hyperactive floor leader who made it possible for the Pioneers to carry out their game plan.
“In the first two games of the tournament we settled for a lot of outside shots,” Stowers said. “Our focus today was attack the rim and put (Grant County) in situations where they can get into foul trouble. We did that and it came out on our side.”
The Pioneers finished with a 27-14 scoring advantage at the foul line. Two Grant County starters fouled out in the fourth quarter to hamper their team’s comeback capability.
Grant County ended up shooting 47.5 percent (19 of 40) from the field compared to Simon Kenton’s 36.9 percent (17 of 46), but the Braves committed 20 turnovers against the Pioneers’ aggressive ball pressure defense.
“That was one of our keys for the game,” said Grant County coach Shawn West. “We wanted to make sure we valued the basketball and we just didn’t do a very good job of it.”
Pernell, Kelch and freshman guard Megan Gadzalla were the other Simon Kenton players named to the region all-tournament team. In three games, Pernell netted 44 points and Kelch had 43.
It will be interesting to see how the young Pioneers do in their first state tournament game later this week at Rupp Arena. They’ll be facing a 25-5 Henderson County team that ended the regular season ranked No. 8 in the state by media members.
“It’s going to be a little intimidating, but I think we’re going to pull through,” said Eggleston. “We’re going to put in the work and focus this week. Hopefully, it’ll all come out good for us.”
SIMON KENTON 13 20 14 19 — 66
GRANT COUNTY 13 14 11 17 — 55
SIMON KENTON (18-14): Pernell 7 1 18, Flynn 1 4 6, Gadzalla 0 7 7, Kelch 2 8 12, Eggleston 4 2 12, Webb 3 5 11. Totals: 17 27 66.
GRANT COUNTY (20-11): Rowe 4 1 9, Russell 4 1 11, Barnes 4 4 12, Ginn 0 1 1, Naranjo 6 2 15, Cummins 0 5 5, Scroggins 1 0 2. Totals: 19 14 55.
3-point goals: SK — Pernell 3, Eggleston 2. GC — Russell 2, Nanjaro.
Boys region basketball tournaments
9th REGION AT NKU TRUIST ARENA
Tuesday
Championship game: Newport (27-6) VS. Cooper (18-12), 7 p.m.
10th REGION AT MASON COUNTY H.S.
Monday
Mason County (28-5) vs. Campbell County (22-11), 6 p.m.
George Rogers Clark (25-5) vs. Harrison County (27-6), 7:45 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship game, 7 p.m.
8th REGION AT HENRY COUNTY H.S.
Monday
North Oldham (25-5) vs. Woodford County (18-12), 6:30 p.m.
Simon Kenton (22-10) vs. Collins (25-7), 8 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship game, 7 p.m.