Girls 11th Region quarterfinals: Henry Clay pulls away late; Madison Central wins at buzzer
Henry Clay coach Ashley Garrard could not claim the prettiest of victories Monday in the Blue Devils’ 11th Region quarterfinals matchup at Tates Creek. But she’ll take the win.
“As long as at the end of the night you have one point over what they had then I can live with it, but it’s wearing my body down,” Garrard said with a laugh. “If you can win playing that ugly, be scared of us when we’re playing good.”
Henry Clay used a 10-1 run in the fourth quarter to escape Centre Parkway with a 54-47 win.
The Blue Devils held a narrow 44-43 lead late in the fourth quarter after eight ties and 10 lead changes with the Commodores when senior guard Timarri Miller knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to start the decisive run. It was her only 3-point attempt of the game.
“Those seniors realized they didn’t want this to be their last game,” Garrard said. “They brought a little more energy that fourth quarter.”
On Tates Creek’s ensuing possession, junior Ariyanna Sutton stole the ball as the Commodores crossed half court and tossed it ahead to senior Allison Stone for an easy layup and a 49-43 lead with 1:59 left in the game. Henry Clay eventually stretched the lead to 10 points in securing the postseason victory.
“In the fourth quarter, we just didn’t lose confidence,” said Stone, who hit her only 3-pointer in the fourth quarter after five missed attempts. She finished with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds. “Honestly, none of us had a great shooting game, but we knew we just had to keep working and it was going to fall eventually.”
Henry Clay @HCHSGirlsBB with a huge swing following a 3 by @Timarrimiller. Ariyanna Sutton with a steal and feed ahead to @stone_alli for a 6 pt lead. It’s 49-44 now with 1:35 to go 11th Region quarterfinals pic.twitter.com/KCFnrnKDk1
— Jared Peck (@HLpreps) March 5, 2024
Miller led the Blue Devils with 15 points and five assists. Lydia Van Metre added 10 points. Henry Clay shot only 31.8 percent from the field in the first half and was 1-for-6 from three point range on the way to a 17-14 halftime advantage. In the second half, Henry Clay made 50 percent of its field goals and went 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
Tates Creek (18-14), who hosted Monday’s game as 43rd District champions, got 12 points each from Ashton Harris and Isabelle Ellison and 11 points from Kaleigh Potts.
The win advanced Henry Clay (22-10), the 42nd District runner-up, to Thursday’s 11th Region semifinals at Paul Laurence Dunbar where it will face 41st District champion Franklin County, the region’s highest rated team, according to the latest Dave Cantrall Ratings.
Franklin County poses a significant challenge, but Garrard believes her team has a speed advantage over the Flyers. The Blue Devils lost to Franklin County 59-42 in both teams’ season openers on Nov. 27, but neither team was at full strength at that time.
“We’ve got to use our speed and play defense the way we’ve been playing it for the last month,” Garrard said.
Monday’s other quarterfinals
Madison Central 42, Great Crossing 41: Nataya Strader’s running floater from just inside the left elbow banked off the glass and in as time expired to give the host Indians (19-11) a thrilling victory over the upset-minded Warhawks (12-19).
Madison Central pushed the ball up the court immediately after Great Crossing’s Olivia Tierney hit a layup for a 41-40 lead with 21 seconds to go. Cameryn Ridderikhoff handed off the ball to Strader on the left wing with about seven seconds left. Strader dribbled right, split two defenders with a Euro step and let go of a right-handed 10-footer. She was mobbed by her teammates after it fell through the hoop.
Strader led Madison Central with 22 points. Ridderikhoff added 13. Tierney led Great Crossing with 17 points.
Though Madison Central led by as many as 10 points in the first half, Great Crossing held a six-point lead, 37-31, early in the fourth quarter. A pair of Jordyn Miles free throws gave Madison Central its first lead of the fourth quarter at 40-39 with 28 seconds left to set up the final sequence.
Madison Central, the 44th District champion, will face 42nd District champion Frederick Douglass in Thursday’s semifinals at Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Frederick Douglass 65, Lafayette 47: The defending champion Broncos (22-10) took control of their game against the visiting Generals (18-14) with a 38-11 run in the first half as four Douglass players reached double figures led by Niah Rhodes with 20 points.
Ayanna-Sarai Darrington scored 12, Amayah Maxwell 11, and Jaylee Knowles 10 for Douglass as it shot 51 percent from the field, including making 7 of 17 3-pointers, four of those by Rhodes. Lafayette, the 43rd District runner-up, was led by Anna Clay Denton and Belle Combs with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Franklin County 67, Madison Southern 45: Leia Hogan scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the first half as the host Flyers (27-6) went up by as many as 21 points in the early going on their way to a convincing win.
Juliana Frazee and Keyonna Taylor added 12 and 10 points, respectively, against the 44th District runner-up. Hadley French scored 14 for the Eagles (20-11) with Bailey Hensley adding 12 points. Madison Southern got no closer than 12 points in the second half.
Girls 11th Region Tournament
(Semifinals and finals at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School)
Thursday
6 p.m.: Franklin County vs. Henry Clay
8 p.m.: Madison Central vs. Frederick Douglass
Saturday
8 p.m.: Championship game
Tickets: $8 via gofan.com.
Streaming: glicod.com
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