By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Walton-Verona and Holy Cross won first-round games by double-digit margins in the Kentucky All “A” Classic girls’ state basketball tournament on Wednesday at McBrayer Arena in Richmond.
Walton-Verona defeated Louisville Brown, 49-32, in the third game and Holy Cross knocked off Danville, 57-40, in the eighth game to advance to the quarterfinals of the annual small school playoffs.
On Friday, Walton-Verona (15-5) will play Williamsburg (14-6) at 10 a.m and Holy Cross (13-7) will take on Murray (19-2) at 1 p.m.
In the early first-round game, Walton-Verona scored 11 straight points in the second quarter to take a 27-23 halftime lead against Brown. Five players made field goals during the Bearcats’ run. Steals by freshman point guard Haylee Neely set up two breakaway baskets and she got one herself off a steal by senior teammate Alyson Poore.
The Bearcats opened the second half with a 6-0 run and went on to take a 39-25 lead on a basket by senior guard Rachel Lehkamp with 2:06 left in the third quarter. Brown cut the margin to 39-30 going into the fourth quarter, but the Bears were outscored 10-2 in the final period.
Walton-Verona scored 37 points off 30 turnovers committed by Brown. The Bearcats made 19 steals to account for most of those turnovers. Junior forward Brooke Perry was the team-leader in steals with six and points with 13. Neely and Lehkamp had 10 points each.
Both teams shot 32 percent from the floor, but Walton-Verona had a 15-0 scoring advantage from behind the 3-point arc. Poore made two of her team’s five treys.
Holy Cross needed a 22-8 scoring run in the fourth quarter to pull away from Danville and freshman center Sidney Thomas played a major role in her team’s strong finish.
There were four ties and four lead changes during the first three quarters of the game. Holy Cross had a slim 35-32 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Thomas scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots in that final period to lead the Indians to a double-digit win.
The 6-foot-5 center finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists. She made all six of her field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and shot 82 percent (9 of 11) for the game. As a team, Holy Cross shot 46 percent (23 of 50) compared to Danville’s 28.8 percent (15 of 52).
Senior guard Bailee Harney was the Indians’ other double-figure scorer with 13 points. She also had eight rebounds to help Holy Cross finish with a 43-25 advantage on the boards.
The first round of the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ state tournament will be played Thursday at McBrayer Arena in Richmond. The eight games include Beechwood (12-8) vs. Lynn Camp (15-1) at 8:30 a.m. and Walton-Verona (14-4) vs. Louisville Holy Cross (12-7) at 8 p.m.
DANVILLE 4 12 16 8 – 40
HOLY CROSS 5 11 19 22 – 57
DANVILLE (9-11): Turner 7-19 3-6 17, Alcorn 2-6 0-0 6, Burnett 1-8 2-2 5, Akers 2-4 0-0 5, Tandy 1-4 1-1 3, Gonzales 1-6 0-0 2, Bradshaw 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 15-52 6-11 40.
HOLY CROSS (13-7): Thomas 9-11 0-0 18, Harney 4-10 5-6 13, Simpson 4-6 0-0 8, Rankin 3-6 0-0 7, Crigler 1-8 3-4 6; McClendon 1-4 1-2 3, Bradshaw 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-50 9-12 57.
3-pointer: D — Alcorn 2, Burnett, Akers. HC — Rankin, Crigler.
LOUISVILLE BROWN 13 10 7 2 – 32
WALTON-VERONA 14 13 12 10 – 49
BROWN (13-5): Bowen 3-12 6-10 12, Cockroft 4-9 3-3 11, Rahman 2-5 0-0 4, Henderson 1-3 0-2 2, Corus 1-1 0-0 2, Williams 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 11-34 10-17 32.
WALTON-VERONA (15-5): Perry 2-7 8-10 13;, Neeley 3-8 3-3 10, Lehkamp 4-11 1-3 10, Poore 3-8 0-2 8, Michael 1-2 0-0 2, Struck 1-3 0-0 2, Gutman 1-5 0-1 2, Hicks 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 15-46 14-21 49.
3-pointers: WV — Poore 2, Perry, Lehkamp, Neely.