Crestwood, KY – The South Oldham Lady Dragons came home for the final two games of the regular season, against Seventh Region power Eastern and Sixth Region foe Doss, determined to close out on a good note after a disappointing loss to Spencer County last Friday. The good note, however, will have to wait until Friday, when Doss visits, after Eastern whipped the Lady Dragons, 72-50, last night.

As in Friday’s loss to Spencer, the game was physical, and – unofficially – the two teams combined for a new record for total free throws attempted in a game (79), eclipsing the mark of 76 set just last Friday during the South Oldham – Spencer game.

A phenomenal third quarter performance by Melissa Raque (pronounced "Rocky") of Eastern, coupled with a smothering full-court pressure defense, wiped out a five point South Oldham lead and propelled the Lady Eagles to the 22-point victory. The margin was particularly surprising in light of the nip-and-tuck first 22 minutes of the game. However, the Lady Eagles took advantage of the free throw opportunities they got, hitting eleven more free throws than South Oldham did, although they shot only five more. When all was said and done, the Lady Eagles had hit over 70% of their charity tosses (30 of 42), whereas the Lady Dragons hit only 19 of 37 (51.4%).

The first quarter wasn’t pretty, as both teams had trouble shooting and handling the ball. The Lady Dragons unofficially turned the ball over a whopping nine times in the first period alone; meanwhile, the Lady Eagles were on their way to 3 of 16 shooting (19%). The result was a first quarter that featured seven lead changes and no lead of more than two points. A basket by Ashley Staude gave South the 11-10 lead to end the period.

Eastern scored the first five points of the second period to take a 15-11 lead with 5:16 remaining in the half. After a South Oldham timeout, the Lady Dragons took over, scoring five straight points to regain the lead at 16-15. After a Sarah Totten three-pointer briefly pushed Eastern back out in front at 18-16, South went on a 7-0 run to grab a 23-18 edge with 1:20 left. The run – indeed, the quarter - was fueled by free throws; although South converted on only 11 of 27 free throws in the other three quarters, they hit a sizzling 8 of 10 in the second period.

Two free throws by Totten pulled Eastern to within three at 23-20 as the half came to a close.

Both teams went into the locker room glad to still be in the game. South Oldham’s top scorers – Melissa Hayes and Ashley Trosper – were a combined 0 for 9 at the intermission, and had four points on free throws between them.

Eastern was having similar troubles. Leading scorer Melissa Raque, who garnered two fouls in the first half and spent much of her time on the bench because of it, scored just four points after entering the game with a gaudy 20 points-per-game average. The 6’0" senior center hit just two of ten shots in the first half. The team as a whole was shooting a miserable 20% from the field at the break on 6 of 30 shooting.

In addition, the two teams combined for 25 first-half turnovers.

Both teams came out strong to begin the second half, going to their leading scorers on their first possessions. Both Hayes and Raque responded, with Hayes scoring five of South’s first eight third-quarter points, and Raque scoring an unbelievable twenty points in the third period, including 11 of the first 12 Eastern points in the frame.

South equalled their biggest lead of the game at 28-23, before Raque scored and hit two free throws to pull Eastern to within one. A basket and a free throw by Hayes lifted South to a 31-27 lead, but an 8-0 run by the Lady Eagles, highlighted by five Raque points, gave Eastern the lead for good at 35-31.

By now, the Eastern press was smelling blood, and the Lady Eagles forced ten turnovers in the third period alone. As a result, South only got off nine third-period shots. Thanks to some superb individual efforts, particularly from Alexis Fleming, the Lady Dragons stayed close, pulling to within three at 41-38 with about two minutes left in the period.

But Eastern scored the last eleven points of the third period and the first seven points of the fourth to blow the game wide open. South’s inability to get the ball upcourt against the full-court 2-2-1 pressure defense of the Lady Eagles ultimately was the difference. Unofficially, South Oldham finished with 29 turnovers.

The 18-0 run over a span of only three minutes took a back-and-forth affair and turned it into an instant runaway. By the time Melissa Raque committed her fourth foul and Stephanie Vaughn hit two free throws for South Oldham to pull the Lady Dragons to within 59-40, it was all over but the shouting. The Lady Dragons would twice pull to within 15, at 60-45 and 63-48, but when Eastern moved to a four-corner stall offense with 3:22 left, South could only foul, and Eastern hit their free throws. The Lady Eagles hit 9 of 12 free throws over the final 2:17, with the final free throw from Dionne Chandler accounting for the final margin at the :08 mark and giving Eastern their largest lead of the night at 72-50.

The South Oldham JV team beat Eastern, 52-31.

Unofficial WYKY 105.7 FM scoring:

South Oldham – Fleming 14, Hayes 11, Trosper 6, Vaughn 6, Cobb 5, Staude 4, Bray 2, Lee 2

Eastern – Raque 26, Chandler 13, Behling 13, Totten 9, Claggett 8, Wagner 3

NEXT SOUTH OLDHAM GIRLS BROADCAST:

31^st District Basketball Tournament: Tuesday, 2/27/01 South Oldham girls vs. Gallatin Co. (first round) Pregame: 5:30 pm Tipoff: 6:00 pm.

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