Christian Academy-Louisville 47 Nelson County 29

CAL's Lady Centurions were able to cage the Lady Cardinals of Nelson County in the opening round of the Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic.

Will provide summary/stats later, including observations of the matchup between potential Miss KY Basketball candidates Antonita Slaughter and Samantha Drake.

CAL 47 Nelson County 29

Summary
The teams employed opposing strategies in this matchup showcasing two of the top candidates for Miss KY Basketball, CAL’s Antonita Slaughter and Nelson County’s Samantha Drake. In the end, the Lady Centurions’ inside-out game was able to turn the interior design plans of the Lady Cardinals upside-down.

Slaughter made a statement by hitting a 3-pointer to begin the battle, but it was teammate Allison Karst who took advantage of open looks whenever the Lady Cardinal defense tried to slow Slaughter and Dow in the paint. By the end of the 1st quarter, CAL had opened up a 13-4 lead. On the other end of the floor, the Lady Cardinals focused on getting the ball to center Samantha Drake. After a slow opening period, Drake impressed in the 2nd quarter, staying half a step ahead of double-team traps and splitting defenders for 10 of her 1st-half 12 points. Unfortunately for Nelson County, it was primarily a single-player performance, supplemented only by 9th-grade sister Cierra Drake’s 2 points.

The Lady Centurions inside-out shooting barrage didn’t let up in the 2nd half. The team assist total grew to 16 as Slaughter, Anna Hart, and China Dow repeatedly drove and passed to open players on the perimeter or cutters to the basket. Nelson County tried to respond by moving Samantha Drake outside of the paint for a few minutes. Lady Cardinal guards AJ Lewis and Shelby Maupin found a bit more room to work for 4 points apiece, but the Lady Centurions’ rebounding limited Nelson County to one shot on most offensive trips. Having rotated 7 or 8 players for most of the game, Coach Rice emptied the bench in the final period when the point margin reached 24 points.

Sideline notes
CAL:
--Player of the game: Pregame focus was on the Slaughter vs. Drake matchup, but Allison Karst stole the show by scoring 23 points, including 5 three-pointers.
--Inside game: Rebounding efforts resulted in a better than 2 to 1 ratio with Slaughter and Dow each garnering 8 boards, complemented by five blocked shots.
--Defense: Trapping on the interior to slow Drake while still matching man-to-man on the perimeter worked well, limiting Nelson County to 24.4% FG shooting.
--Turnovers: Twenty should be an exception, not a standard, for this team with good ball handlers, caused by Nelson County’s disciplined defense and attempts to force a faster tempo.

Nelson County:
--The game plan of getting the ball inside to Drake to score and to get Slaughter in foul trouble met with limited success in the 2nd quarter. However, a halftime defensive adjustment of sagging a guard trapped Drake front and rear, allowing her little space to move even if she received a pass. She scored only two points in the 2nd half.
--If the Lady Cardinals can develop more consistent outside shooting, even in the 40% range, it will open up more opportunities for Drake and create a myriad of problems for opponents.
--Cierra Drake may follow in her big sister’s footsteps and be a true force in the middle.

Potential Miss KY Basketball Matchup
Listed by the Courier-Journal as the top two contenders for the title of Kentucky’s Miss Basketball, Antonita Slaughter and Samantha Drake went head-to-head for this contest. In the hope of keeping it objective, here is the statistical breakdown, followed by personal observations/opinion:

Points: Drake 14 Slaughter 12
Total FG %: Drake 5/9 (55.6%) Slaughter 5/8 (62.5%)
3-point FG %: Drake 0/1 (0%) Slaughter 2/5 (40%)
Rebounds: Drake 3 Slaughter 8
Assists: Drake 0 Slaughter 5
Steals: Drake 3 Slaughter 2
Blocked shots: Drake 0 Slaughter 1

Samantha Drake: For offensive post play, Drake dominated the 2nd quarter with some nice footwork, splitting defenders or leaving them behind. However, when the inside defensive trap was adjusted for the 2nd half, her production was limited to 2 points and she didn’t attain any assists for the game. She did play out of the paint for short stretches, rotating the post with her younger sister Cierra, but couldn’t hit from the outside and only gathered a total of 3 rebounds. She anticipated well on defense, getting into the passing lanes for 3 steals.

Antonita Slaughter: Although she forced the action at times that resulted in 1st half turnovers, Slaughter displayed a more versatile game than Drake with her ability to hit from long range and her 8 rebounds more than doubled Drake’s total. Her inside-out game added 5 assists, but it should be noted that her team mates were better shooters on this night.

Overall: Both played solid defense with good anticipation and still managed to stay out of foul trouble. I’d give the slight edge to Slaughter’s overall game, but it might be a harder call if the supporting casts had been equal for the occasion. My disclaimer: Either or neither could win the title.

Game scoring by quarter
CAL 13 12 14 8 47
Nelson Co. 4 10 9 6 29

Player statistics
CAL: Allison Karst (23 points, 2 steals, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 block), Antonita Slaughter (12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block), China Dow (5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks), Casey Marshall (3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal), Anna Hart (2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block), Kate Joss (2 points)
Nelson County: Samantha Drake (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals), AJ Lewis (4 points), Shelby Maupin (4 points), Emily Hogan (3 points), Cierra Drake (3 points)

Team statistics
CAL: FG 19/34 (55.9%), 3-pt. FG 8/19 (42.1%), FT 1/3 (33.3%)
Nelson County: FG 10/41 (24.4%), 3-pt. FG 2/13 (15.4%), FT 7/10 (70%)

Thanks for the in-depth look!