By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Somerset — The Somerset Christian girls basketball team had the best season in school history, but their landmark campaign came to an end in the semifinals of the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association Region 4 Girls basketball Tournament.
After downing Danville Christian 47-28 in their Region 4 first round game, the Lady Cougars fell to two-time defending state champs Lakeside Christian 60-32 in the semifinals.
The Lady Cougars ended the season with a program best 14-6 record.
“Our girls gave every ounce of effort they had, and I am so proud of each one of them,” Somerset Christian girls coach Jamie Middleton said. “We have accomplished more than anyone would have dreamed at the start of the year, and with all 5 starters and 8 of our top 9 coming back, the future looks very good for Somerset Christian girls basketball.”
In the Lady Cougars’ opening round win over Danville, freshman Lauren Dungan came up big with a game-high 18 points.
The Lady Cougars trailed after the opening quarter, but they outscored Danville 28 to 11 over the next two periods to take a commanding lead.
“The game plan was designed to limit the effectiveness of Priscilla Volk, who led them in scoring and assists, and was their main ball-handler,” Middleton explained. “Our girls worked the plan to perfection and our intensity level really frustrated Danville. We were able to execute everything the way we wanted to, we just couldn’t make shots in the first half.”
“It is really hard to prepare for a team four times, let alone beat them four times,” Middleton remarked. “We had a few new things that we hadn’t shown previously and that seemed to confuse Danville. Our girls did everything asked of them and did it well.”
DCA 9 7 4 8 - 28
SCS 5 13 15 14 - 47
DANVILLE - Priscilla Volk 5, Shayla Smith 6, Katherine Raines 12, Maddie Crawford 1, Carrie Crawford 1, Emily Hines 3.
SOMERSET - Dakota Stringer 5, Emma Frost 7, Morgan O'Hair 3, Alex Bartley 2, Jessica Bartley 2, Amy Rice 4, Lauren Dungan 18, Ashley Glass 6.
In their semifinal match-up with Lakeside, the Lady Cougars fell behind early and were outscored 19 to 6 in the third stanza. Somerset could not recover from the early deficit and ended their season with the Region 4 semifinal setback.
“We finally matched their intensity level for the first time ever and didn’t play scared at all,” Middleton explained. “At halftime, we led in almost every statistical category except the score, and were only down 10 points. I think Lakeside was shocked that we were actually in the game with them at halftime, since they beat us by 50 points in an exhibition game at Christmas. Their points off of our turnovers doomed us in the second half. Plus, we only shot about 30 percent, and most were wide open shots.
“We actually outrebounded Lakeside 46 to 44 and held them to 30 percent shooting,” Middleton continued. “We never backed down and never quit. This is the best group of young ladies that a coach could ask for. The improvement shown by our girls from year one to now is amazing, not only in skill level, but in understanding the game (basketball IQ) and strategies.”
Somerset Christian School sophomore Ashley Glass was named to the KCAA Region 4 All-Tournament team.
Somerset Christian andf Lakeside game stats can be found at www.lakesidefalcons.com
SCS 4 10 6 12 - 32
LCA 9 15 19 17 - 60
SCS (14-6) Shea O'Hair 3, Emma Frost 2, Morgan O'Hair 4, Jessica Bartley 4, Lauren Dungan 7, Ashley Glass 12.
LCA (24-0) Brooklyn Hesterberg 8, Taylor Conn 4, Whitlea Wall 8, Ally McGhee 15, Taylor Patrick 5, Chelsea Porter 1, Morgan Ravenscraft 9, Faith Conn 4, Haley Skidmore 6.
