Bedford, KY – On February 9, the Lady Colonels pinned a 23-point loss on the Trimble County Lady Raiders in Buckner. That night, it took about four minutes for the Oldham defense to start to break down the Raiders, and by the half, the game was over. The Lady Raiders, however, had won 5 of 6 games since that matchup, and looked to be much improved.

This game started similarly, but the Lady Raiders made it much more interesting, as Oldham County earned their second consecutive 31^st District Championship with a 64-50 victory.

The first 5 ½ minutes of the game were nip-and-tuck, as Trimble took care of the ball against the Oldham press, and aggressively attacked the basket. A 3-2 zone defense kept the Lady Colonels from pounding the ball inside, and with 2:22 left in the first, the Lady Raiders had the home crowd on its feet, trailing only 9-7. The Raiders, however, would never catch up.

Oldham County – which had scored on back-to-back threes from Eryn Jacobsen and Rebecca Husband – got two more threes from Eryn and Rebecca. The four straight treys prompted a Trimble timeout with 1:52 left in the period, and the Lady Colonels suddenly up, 15-7. The Lady Raiders switched to a man-to-man defense to stop the threes, opening the middle up for Brandi Miller. Miller scored four of Oldham’s final six points of the period, and the Lady Colonels led by eight, 21-13, after one quarter.

Like the February game, however, it was the second quarter that told the tale. Julie Hedges started the scoring by hitting a free throw, and Cassie Fisher answered for Trimble with a field goal less than a minute into the period. Trimble, however, wouldn’t score another point for nearly three and a half minutes. By the time Rachel Aylor scored with 3:49 left in the half, Oldham County had ripped off 13 unanswered points, with five different players scoring, and led, 35-18. Oldham kept the heat on all the way to halftime, forcing a turnover with about six seconds left, and letting Brandi Miller take the ball the length of the court for a short jumper that she nailed right before the buzzer. The last-second shot gave Oldham a 41-21 halftime lead.

A 10-4 Oldham County burst to open the third period gave the Lady Colonels their biggest lead of the night at 51-24 midway through the quarter. The game appeared completely out of hand, but the Lady Raiders didn’t give up. Keyed by a Nicky Draque three-pointer, followed by a Draque steal and layup, the Lady Raiders outscored Oldham, 9-4, to pull to within 22 points after three periods.

It still seemed that Trimble faced an impossible task, but a 6-0 Raider run to start the fourth – including four points by Draque, who finished with 16 points to lead Trimble – cut the lead to 16. And when Beth Wagner hit one of two free throws at the 6:17 mark, the Oldham lead was down to 15 points.

The Oldham defense clamped down again, though, and Trimble didn’t score again for nearly three minutes. Oldham, meanwhile, scored six straight points, and the lead ballooned to 61-40 before Draque scored at the 3:30 mark. With 2:47 left, it was still a twenty-point game at 64-44.

As Oldham County head coach Todd Gilley began inserting his subs, Trimble County chipped away at the margin, scoring the final six points of the game to account for the final score.

Oldham shot 50% for the game on 25 of 50 shooting, and hit 55.6% of their threes, but the Lady Colonels were a perplexing 9 of 19 from the free throw line (47.4%). And, primarily due to the Trimble County zone, the Lady Raiders actually out-rebounded the taller and more athletic Lady Colonels, 33-29. As a result, Trimble actually had more second-chance points (11 vs. 5) than Oldham County, a real rarity this season. Oldham more than made up for it by getting points off turnovers (21 points vs. 10 for Trimble). The Oldham bench was also a lot more productive, outscoring the Trimble bench, 7-0.

Oldham held Trimble to a tough night shooting the ball. The Lady Raiders hit only 37.2% from the field and 3 of 11 from beyond the arc. Part of the poor shooting probably stemmed from the Lady Raiders’ lack of depth. Three starters - Lindsay McGuire, Cassi Fisher, and Beth Wagner – played more than 30 of the 32 minutes. A fourth starter – Draque – played 29 minutes and 37 seconds.

Rebecca Husband, Brandi Miller, and Sara Hadley made the All-Tournament team from Oldham County.

Official Scoring:

Oldham County 21 20 14 9 - 64

Trimble County 13 8 12 17 - 50

Oldham County (21-6) – Miller 18, Husband 11, S. Gibson 10, Jacobsen 10, Hadley 8, Hedges 5, Middleton 2

Trimble County (12-13) – Draque 16, Wagner 14, Fisher 8, Aylor 7, McGuire 5
 
 

8^th REGION COVERAGE: Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation will air ALL 8^th Region games, boys and girls, LIVE on WTHQ 101.7 FM. Except for nights with conflicts with UK (either UK games or Big Blue Line), the games will also be simulcast on WYKY 105.7 FM.

Coverage will begin each night one half hour prior to tip-off of the first game played that night.

Coverage will start with the boys on Monday night at Henry County H.S.: First game – Shelby County vs. Bullitt East; second game: Scott County vs. South Oldham

Tuesday, 3/6/01 – Oldham County vs. Grant County, followed by Bullitt Central vs. Anderson County.

The boys’ tournament promises to be extremely competitive. Although Scott County (8^th) and Oldham County (18^th) are the ranked teams, each of the other six squads is dangerous. Shelby County has already beaten Scott County, Bullitt Central, and South Oldham, and split two with Grant County and Anderson County. But Oldham beat Shelby by 12. The Colonels pounded Bullitt Central and Shelby, beat Anderson, but lost a thriller to Grant County. Bullitt Central pushed Shelby and Scott to the limits. South beat Anderson. You get the idea.

The Girls’ 8^th Region – played in Shelbyville – will begin on Wednesday, 3/7/01. Historically, the 8^th Region girls’ tournament was among the most competitive in the state, with Oldham, Bullitt East, Scott County, and Shelby County among the state’s best. But this year figures to be more like last year, when Oldham County and Shelby County stand high above the rest. The fourth-ranked Lady Rockets seek their third straight Regional title; the fourteenth-ranked Lady Colonels figure to be the primary roadblock. If one of these two wins it, they will be one of the favorites to win the state tournament. Last year, Shelby defeated Oldham, 48-47, in the semi-finals, then advanced all the way to the state title game before losing. Walton-Verona, with star player Jessica Schmidt, Scott County, and Bullitt Central figure to be the primary dark horse threats.

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