Shepherdsville, KY (Bullitt Central HS) – One year ago, the Oldham County Lady Colonels seemed headed to the state tournament. The Lady Colonels went into the final of the Eighth Region basketball tournament favored over the Lady Cardinals of Scott County. But the up-tempo Lady Cards pressed the pace against the Lady Colonels, leg-weary from a double-overtime win over the Shelby County Lady Rockets in a game that had ended late the night before. Although the game was close, Scott County pulled away at the end and won the region title.

Fast-forward to 2002.

Scott County and Oldham County once again met in the 8^th Region Tournament, but this time, the roles were reversed. The 20-9 Lady Cardinals were the top-20 team that came into the tournament as a co-favorite (with Shelby County). Oldham made the tournament as a district runner-up (to South Oldham) with a 13-15 record, second-worst among the eight tournament teams.

Of course, there was some question as to what the 13-15 record really meant. Oldham played seven top-15 teams this season, including three of the top five-ranked teams. The Lady Colonels lost all seven games; a more relaxed schedule might have resulted in Oldham finishing 20-8. But the Lady Colonel coaching staff knew that only a stiff schedule would develop the team in the manner needed to make a run at the region title…

The two teams traded punches until midway through the first period, when Scott’s Erin Brown drilled a three-pointer to push Scott out to an 11-4 lead with 3:39 to go in the period. After a basket by Oldham’s Rebecca Husband pulled the Lady Colonels to within 11-6, Scott County’s Rachel Reliford gave the 32^nd District champs a seven point lead at 13-6 to close of the quarter.

Back-to-back baskets by Eryn Jacobson and Jessica Holroyd pulled Oldham to within three to start the second period, and with 3:28 to play in the half, a Jennifer Irwin free throw helped Oldham to crawl to within a basket at 15-13. But Scott went on a 13-4 run to close the half, leading 28-17.

Scott County’s momentum carried over into the second half, as the Lady Cardinals scored the first five points of the half to nearly double up Oldham County, 33-17. After an Oldham County time out with 6:35 showing in the third, Husband hit two free throws to finally get the Lady Colonels on the board. But Oldham continued to have trouble handling the ball, and facing the big deficit, the Lady Colonels found themselves forced to play at the pace Scott County wanted: super-fast. After committing ten (unofficial) first half turnovers, Oldham County lost the ball seven times (unofficial) in the third quarter alone. Scott County continued to take advantage, outscoring Oldham 17-7 to end the period up, 50-26. Rebecca Husband scored all nine of Oldham’s third period points, but with the Scott defense concentrating on her, the talented senior hit just 2 of 7 third period shots.

She was hardly alone. Out of sync all night because of the frenetic Scott County defense, Oldham hit just 15 of 51 shots for 29.4% from the field as a team..

Although Oldham did a good job of defending the high-powered Scott County offense in the half-court setting, all too often the Lady Cardinals were attacking in transition, and the Lady Colonels simply didn't have the speed to get back to contest the drives to the basket.

The final period was anti-climactic, as Oldham couldn’t dent the big lead. Scott County eventually pushed the margin to 28 at 63-35 after a three-pointer by Tia Garrett. Oldham remained pretty much a two-person show, as Eryn Jacobson (10 fourth quarter points) and Husband (8 fourth quarter points) accounted for 18 of the team’s 20 points in the period. Amy Middleton scored the other two points.

The Oldham County coaching staff allowed Rebecca Husband to finish the game on the court. Normally, a coach will take out a senior late in their final game, allowing the crowd to give each senior the applause they’ve earned. But Husband was tantalizingly close to reaching the 1,000 point club, and the coaches hoped to get the fourth-year starter to that elite plateau. At the time of this writing, it was uncertain as to whether Husband had scored her 1,000^th point or if she had fallen one or two points shy.

Fittingly, the final Oldham County basket was scored by Husband, but the Scott County Lady Cardinals earned the win, 70-46.

Scott County improves to 21-9 on the season and advances to the semi-finals, where they will play the Shelby County Lady Rockets, 70-48 winners over the Spencer County Lady Bears in the final first round game.

Oldham County finishes 13-16 on the season. Seven seniors played their last game: Rebecca Husband, Eryn Jacobson, Amy Johnson, Jennifer Irwin, Amy Middleton, Jackie Koebel, and Megan Kamer.

Scott County – Brown 22, Lymon 15, Garrett 7, Weathers 7, Fraley 6, Farmer 5, Hammons 4, Reliford 4

Oldham County – Husband 22, Jacobson 15, Holroyd 4, Middleton 2, Koebel 2, Irwin 1

Next Sportszone 105.7 FM radio coverage:

BOYS 8^th Region Tournament:

Friday, 3/8/02 6 pm #18 Oldham County vs. #4 Scott County

Announcers: Mike Montgomery & Jeff Griffin

Immediately following (about 7:30 pm)

#8 Shelby County vs. Grant County

Announcers: Scott Thompson & Mark Smith