STANVILLE, Ky. (WMDJ) – Lawrence County re-established their claim as the top team in the 58th District with a thrilling 61-56 victory over Prestonsburg, denying the Lady Blackcats back-to-back district tournament championships.
Lawrence County has now won five district tournament titles over the past six seasons, after being upset in the semifinals at the hands of Prestonsburg last season.
District and 15th Region Player of the Year Sophie Adkins continued to shine, finishing with 29 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 15-of-21 on the line, to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists.
Maddison Artrip added five clutch 3-pointers and scored 15 points. Jada Patton also tossed in 15 points and was 7-of-8 on the free throw line.
The Lady Dawgs led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter before Prestonsburg answered in the second, outscoring Lawrence 21-11 to claw back into the contest to take a 30-24 lead to halftime.
Lawrence County would rally tie the game at 43-43 at the end of the third quarter, setting up a showdown in the final period.
Prestonsburg took their final lead of the game on a putback by senior Ashley Tackett, making the score 47-46 with 6:20 to play. After a miss by Lawrence County, Adkins was able to pick off an inbounds pass from Prestonsburg converting a layup, giving the Lady Dawgs the lead for good at 48-47.
Lawrence County would be held without a field goal over the final 2:14, yet sealed the win on the free throw line.
The lead would exchange hands 20 times and the scored tied 10 times in the contest.
Prestonsburg will host either East Ridge or Martin County in “Super Saturday” play of the 15th Super Regional Tournament. Lawrence County advances to the quarterfinals of super regional play.
(Photo credit: Faith Lazar and In the Paint Studio)
Scoring by Quarters:
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Lawrence Co. 13 11 19 18 61
Prestonsburg 13 9 13 13 56
LAWRENCE COUNTY (61) - Adkins 7, 15-21 29. Maynard 0,0. Artrip 5, (5) 15. See 0,0. Patton 4, 7-8 15. Bloomfield 1, 2. Woods 0,0. Kitts 0,0.
FG Pct: 37%. FT Pct: 71%. 3-PT 5-19 (Adkins 0-4, Artrip 5-11, Woods 0-1, Kitts 0-3). Fouls 21. Fouled out: Woods. Rebounds 27. Assists 11. Turnnovers 15.
PRESTONSBURG (56) - Prater 2, 4-4 8. Tackett 3, 2-4, 8. Fitzpatrick 4, (2) 3-4 13. Howard 4, 3-4 11. Newsome 2, 4. Allen 0,0. K. Stephens 1, 3-4 5. Layne 0,0. Wright 1 (1) 2-2 5. L. Stephens 0,0. Slone 0, 2-2 2.
FG Pct: 32.7%. FT Pct: 76%. 3-PT 3-12 (Fitzpatrick 2-6, Howard 0-3, K. Stephens 0-2, Wright 1-1). Fouls 27. Fouled out: Prater, Tackett, Fitzpatrick, Howard. Technical fouls: Tackett. Rebounds 41. Assists 7. Turnovers 19.
