By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
They trailed by seven points late in the third quarter with four starters in foul trouble, but the Brossart girls rallied to defeat Green County, 56-49, in the first round of the Kentucky All “A” Classic state basketball tournament Wednesday afternoon at Owensboro Sportscenter.
The Mustangs tied the score with a 7-0 run and the momentum carried over into the fourth quarter. They outscored Green county, 17-9, in the final eight minutes to come away with the victory that raised their record to 19-1.
“The funny thing is we get ourselves in these holes and our kids just don’t panic,” Brossart coach Aaron Stamm said in a post-game interview. “It was one of those things where we could’ve panicked a little bit. Their crowd was into it behind us and we had to find plays and make some plays.”
Brossart will take on defending champion Danville Christian (12-6) in a quarterfinal game at 10:30 a.m. (CST) Friday.
Last year, Danville Christian won four games by double-digit margins to take the title. The Warriors opened this year’s tournament with a 71-62 double-overtime win against Pikeville on Wednesday.
Brossart was behind for the most of its game against Green County. The Dragons had a 13-4 scoring advantage at the free throw line when they took their biggest lead, 39-32, on a foul shot by freshman guard Isabella Clopman with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The Mustangs responded by scoring the next seven points to tie the score, but a foul and another free throw put the Dragons back on top, 40-39, going into the fourth quarter.
Brossart sophomore guard Kylie Smith was tagged with her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and went to the bench. Her replacement was junior Avery Weitholter, who hit a 3-point shot to spark a 6-1 run that put the Mustangs ahead, 45-41 with 6:34 remaining.
“The 3-pointer by Avery was probably the biggest shot of the game,” coach Stamm said. “Her and Lucy (Guidugli) came in and just played really good off the bench. We were in major foul trouble and those guys hung in there and kept us around.”
Brossart’s lead slipped to 49-47 with 50 seconds remaining. At that point, three players had four fouls and one had already fouled out. But it was the Mustangs who made seven of eight free throws in the closing seconds to come away with the victory.
Smith made four of those free throws to finish with a game-high 16 points. Lilee Meyers had 11 points when she fouled out. Hadley Eviston and Rachel Shewmaker each scored nine points. Eviston also had five rebounds and four steals for the Mustangs.
Both teams ended up shooting 39 percent from the field. Brossart had a 15-3 scoring advantage from behind the 3-point arc and outscored Green County, 10-4, at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
BROSSART 11 14 14 17 — 56
GREEN COUNTY 12 15 13 9 — 49
BROSSART (19-1): Meyers 4 1 11, Smith 6 4 16, Eviston 3 3 9, Shewmaker 1 7 9, Kramer 2 2 8, Wietholter 1 0 3. Totals: 17 17 56.
GREEN COUNTY (13-7): Jewell 2 1 6, Clopton 1 11 13, Dixon 5 1 11, Fortner 3 0 6, Brockman 4 4 12, Willis 0 1 1. Totals: 15 18 49.
Three-pointers: B — Meyers 2, Kramer 2, Wietholter. GC — Jewell.