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‘I’ll never forget this game.’ Rookies battle veterans for two OTs in Sweet 16 classic.

Lexington Herald-Leader - 3/9/2023

Lambs were led to slaughter, but they almost left as butchers.

Henderson County, a state tournament stalwart starting four seniors, held off uber-young Simon Kenton, 56-54, in a double-overtime nail-biter Thursday night to close out the first round of this year’s Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena.

Youth springs eternal at the state tournament, but seldom does it overflow as was the case for Simon Kenton. The Pioneers started just one senior — Emilee Eggleston — along with three freshmen and an eighth-grader, Brynli Pernell, whose 11.6 points per game led them in scoring. Even their coach is green; Brenden Stowers is in his first year as skipper after taking the reins from his father, Jeff, who led the program for 20 seasons.

Contrast that with the Colonels, who in their 19th Sweet 16 appearance — and fifth straight — started just one freshman alongside their tournament-tested veterans. Their coach, Jeff Haile, is second on the Kentucky all-time leaders list with 819 wins.

This one easily ranks among the best.

“I know it was a heck of a game for the crowd to watch,” Haile said. “I’ll never forget this game for as long as I live.”

Simon Kenton (19-15) made its first trip to state since 2018, when its few upperclassmen were playing for their middle school feeder. If there were any first-time jitters, they were quickly shaken: Henderson County jumped out to a 4-0 lead but the Pioneers closed the quarter on a 15-2 run engineered through a flurry of steals — five by four different players.

The Colonels made up ground in the second quarter, pulling to within 26-22 at the intermission, and stayed within five going into the fourth despite Jarie Thomas, their leading scorer, picking up her third foul early in the second half.

Simon Kenton’s inexperience was on display in crunch time. The Pioneers struggled as Henderson County (27-4) ratcheted up its pressure, coughing up possession eight times. They managed only six shot attempts and two points after extending their lead to 39-32 on a basket by Eggleston a couple minutes into the period.

“I think we just kind of got stuck,” Stowers said. “Our wheels were spinning in the mud a little bit and some shots we were usually getting, those driving lanes we’re usually hitting, we just weren’t seeing.”

Trailing 41-38 with 26 seconds left in regulation, Henderson County’s Shalyn Sprinkles got wide-open for a three-pointer at the top of the key to force overtime. With about 33 seconds left in the first extra period, Thomas hit a pair of free throws to even things at 46-all. Those ultimately extended the contest for her teammates, but she fouled out 10 seconds later.

Simon Kenton twice held small leads in the second OT, but a pair of drives by Sprinkles — sandwiching a charge call that erased a tying basket for Simon Kenton — led to free throws that sealed it for the Colonels.

Sprinkles finished with 11 points off the bench, trailing only Thomas (19) among the leading Colonels. She was 8-for-10 at the free-throw line, and her only make from the field was the decisive three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation. It was also one of only three-point makes (3-for-14) for the team that, entering the state tournament, led the state with a 41.8 percentage from behind the arc.

“I knew I had to take my time and use my legs,” Sprinkles said. “It just went in.”

Henderson County was to meet Mercy Academy (25-9) in the 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal Friday at Rupp Arena.

Notes

This was just the fourth game in KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 history to go beyond a single overtime. The last two 2OT game saw George Rogers Clark defeat Ohio County, 67-63, in the 2010 first round. The other two contests went three extra periods: Clay County over Clark County, 48-44, in the 1989 championship game, and Franklin County over Russell County, 72-67, in the 2017 first round.

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