South Oldham 87 Fern Creek 29

Fairly predictable result in Crestwood as the South Oldham Lady Dragons routed the Fern Creek Lady Tigers.

Shanda Miller has done a remarkable job at FC over the last few years (60% winning percentage in 3+ seasons, with no losing records) but she's been dealt a really tough hand this year. Ten seniors graduated from last year's 17-11 team, and the top two scorers - who were both 8th graders last year - both transferred, one to Sacred Heart and one to Manual.

The lone returnee of note is junior Jonee Yount who was last year's #6 scorer (5.5 ppg) and #2 rebounder (4.5 reb).

Gene Heffington, the fifth year SOHS coach, returns three starters from South's 23-8 district 29 champions, has added 8th grade sensation Ella Morrison, and features one of the deepest benches South has had in years.

The game turned into a runaway quickly. The Lady Dragons scored 30 points in the first quarter on 65% shooting from the floor (4 of 5 for 80% beyond the arc) to take a 30-12 lead after one quarter. Junior Brynna Blackburn - daughter of former Eminence great Keith Blackburn - was particularly deadly, hitting 5 of 6 shots, including 3 of 3 beyond the arc, as she scored 13 of South's 30 points.

South outscored FC, 26-6, in the second to all but put the game away with a 56-18 halftime advantage.

Midway through the second period, South Oldham began rotating the starters out of the game. In fact, the South starters only scored 4 of the Lady Dragons' 26 second period points.

In the second half, 8th grader Ella Morrison and sophomore Meagan Chen were the only two Dragon starters to play, and both played only a few minutes. The two combined for just one shot attempt in the second half as Heffington emptied the bench. All 11 varsity roster players played for SOHS, and all 11 scored. In fact, South's top scorers on the night were both subs: 5'9" sophomore Sophia Kirtland dominated the inside in the second half and wound up with 21 points and 6 rebounds, both team highs. Bailey Warner, a 5'5" junior, hit 4 of 6 threes en route to a 14 point outing.

The only starter in double figures for South was Blackburn, who had 13.

For Fern Creek, India Young was the only player in double digits, finishing with 18 points on the night. Young, an athletic junior, scored in a number of ways both inside and outside, and showed a strong move to the basket. Jonee Yount - a potent rebounder and scorer who had scored 25 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the season opener against Western - was held scoreless and unofficially had just 2 boards.

Serenity Cleaves had 9 for Fern Creek.

Unofficial stats:

Field goal %:

South Oldham 38 of 68 55.9%`

Fern Creek 10 of 37 27%

Threes:

South Oldham 9 of 18 50%

Fern Creek 2 of 12 17%

Free throws:

South Oldham 2 of 6 33%

Fern Creek 7 of 18 39%

Rebounds:

South Oldham 33

Fern Creek 21

CM