Marshall County and Calloway County met in Murray on Wednesday to decide the 4th District champions. The Lady Marshals were looking for their fifth straight title and 32nd in program history while the Lady Lakers were hoping to win their first district title since 2011.
After splitting their regular season games, it was Calloway County that came out on top on Wednesday to claim the 4th District with a 51-45 win.
“Defensively we did exactly what the game plan was in the first half”, Head Coach Aaron Beth said in post-game comments on WCBL. “Then we missed some wide open shots that we shouldn’t miss and you can’t do that in big games against good competition. I couldn’t be more proud of our effort though.”
Trailing 5-2, Skylar Waller dropped in a three for the Lady Marshals to tie the game up and a basket by Chevelle Henson gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until the third quarter except for the 9-9 tie to end the first quarter.
Kenzlee Terry gave the Lady Marshals a three-point lift to open the second quarter and they outscored the Lady Lakers by three to lead 20-17 at halftime. The quarter was highlighted by a couple of nice put backs from Henson and a scoring drive through defenders by Eden Sandlin.
The defensive effort of the Lady Marshals held Calloway County’s leading scorer Sayler Lowe to just two points on free throws in the first half.
Free throws from Jessica Reed put the Lady Marshals up 24-19 in the third quarter but a 10-0 run by Calloway County followed to take a five point lead. A three pointer by Rylan Darnell tied the game at 29 and they were tied up again at 31 on free throws from Terry.
Jaiden Koch scored for the Lady Lakers off a turnover and a long downcourt pass to Jaycee Crouch for the basket put them back up by four. Terry finished off the quarter with two more free throws to trim the Calloway County lead to 35-33.
Trailing by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, the Lady Marshals continued to battle. A drive and lay in by Reed trimmed the Lady Lakers lead to 47-45 in the closing minute but in the final 25.7 seconds, Calloway County hit four of six at the line to finish out the six-point win.
“This is the first time we really came together for four quarters and played…we didn’t play great because we gave up too many points in the second half…but we played with energy, we played with emotion, we played with passion, and that’s all I’ve been trying to get them to do all year and I’m so proud of that.”
Both teams will move on to next week’s First Region Tournament to be played at Murray State’s CFSB Center and will learn their opening round opponents at the tournament draw on Saturday morning at Marshall County High School.
Marshall 9 11 13 12 – 45
Calloway 9 8 18 16 – 51
Marshall (21-8): Chevelle Henson 14, Skylar Waller 9, Kenzlee Terry 7, Jessica Reed 6, Laken Schroader 4, Rylan Darnell 3, Eden Sandlin 2
Calloway (26-6): Sayler Lowe 14, Jaiden Koch 12, Jaycee Crouch 10, Kallie Franklin 6, Olivia Perkins 5, Madison Futrell 4
All District Team
Marshall County: Chevelle Henson, Kenzlee Terry, Skylar Waller
Calloway County: Jaycee Crouch, Madison Futrell, Jaidan Koch, Sayler Lowe
Murray: Makira Bomar, Mylee Smith
Christian Fellowship: Gracie Howard
