Final from 33rd District Championship game last night in Union.

 

From WCPO Sports:

 

Ryle takes down Boone in District 33 final

Raiders get plenty of Jump in title win

 

4:17 AM, Feb 27, 2015

 

By Terry Boehmker

 

UNION, Ky. – After losing their last four regular season games, Ryle girls’ basketball players held a group therapy session to get back on track for the district playoffs.

 

“We all came together and talked about it and were like, ‘We’re not that team that’s been losing games anymore,’” said junior forward Aimee Jump. “We’re a different team that’s bringing new energy. We knew that’s what we needed to come out and play our game again and have fun with it.”

 

Ryle defeated Boone County, 58-44, in the 33rd District championship game on Thursday at Cooper High School and the Raiders hope that positive energy carries over to next week’s 9th Region Tournament.

 

A draw to determine pairings for the regional tournament will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Holmes High School. The four first-round games will be played at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday at the Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights.

 

Ryle will likely have the biggest starting lineup among the eight teams in the regional bracket, and the Raiders used their height advantage to win the district title game. They blocked 11 shots and forced Boone County to rely on perimeter shooting.

 

The Rebels did make seven 3-point shots during the game, but they ended up shooting a dismal 23 percent (15 of 63) from the field overall compared to Ryle’s 44 percent (22 of 50).

 

“Looking back at all our losses it’s easy to see we either didn’t play with enough energy or we weren’t using our height advantage,” Jump said. “We know in the future we need to use that all the time. We’ve finally got that mindset where we have these 6-foot-w and 6-foot-1 girls and we need to use them.”

 

Jump, who is listed as 6-foot-2 on the Ryle roster, had 14 points, had eight rebounds and three blocks in the district final and was named most valuable player on the all-tournament team. Her 6-foot-1 teammate, Carly Lange, finished with 17 points and two blocks.

 

In the first half, those two players scored a combined total of 17 points that was one shy of Boone County’s team total.

 

Ryle opened the game with an 11-0 run. Boone County did not get a field goal during the first seven minutes and trailed 16-5 at the end of the first quarter. The margin increased to 18, 36-18 by halftime.

 

“It was important to establish ourselves early and make our presence known on the floor,” said Ryle coach Karra Jackson. “You’re always hoping that you can get off to a good and that the kids are hitting shots because that’s where your confident is built.”

 

Boone County rallied late in the third quarter when guards Macey Ford and Maddy McGarr each hit a 3-point shots to cut Ryle’s lead to 32-44. But the Raiders went on a 10-5 early in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

 

“We got off to a bad start and when we finally starting making a comeback late in the game our shots stopped falling,” said Boone County senior Alexis Switzer. “This is a hard place to shoot. The rims are real stiff and our shots weren’t falling and we just couldn’t get into a groove.”

 

The Rebels also had a bad night at the free throw line, making just 7 of 23. The Raiders converted 12 of 17 foul shots, with Lange hitting 9 of 10 attempts.

 

Boone County’s leading scorers were reserve players Kylie Anderson with 12 points and Jaelyn Bonner with 11.

 

“This was a good win for us to get. We worked for this all year long,” Jackson said. “If we use our height and use our quickness coming of bench I think we can make a run for it (in the regional) next week.”

 

RYLE 16-20-8-14–58

BOONE 5-13-14-12–44

 

RYLE (14-11): Jones 3 0 7, Schwartz 3 2 9, McGregor 1 1 3, Lange 4 9 17, Carothers 1 0 2, Jump 7 0 14, Scherr 3 0 6. Totals: 22 12 58.

 

BOONE COUNTY (17-12): Ford 3 0 9, Bonner 4 1 11, Switzer 1 0 2, Moore 2 4 8, Anderson 4 2 12, Hirschauer 1 0 2. Totals: 15 7 44.

 

3-pointers: R–Jones, Schwartz. BC–Ford 3, Bonner 2, Anderson 2.

 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

 

Ryle – Aimee Jump (MVP), Carly Lange, Mallory Schwartz. Boone County – Sadie Moore, Kylie Anderson. Cooper – Lexi Held. Conner – Taylor Gambrel. Heritage – Isabelle Worley.

Ryle may finally get it.. If they do watch out they could be real hard to deal with.