NDA had several defensive breakdowns especially in the paint and under the basket. Conner was simply beating them to the basket and IMO the NDA coach never made any adjustments.

 

Good call, Joe. Conner killed NDA with penetration and interior passing.

 

I think Conner proved tonight that its not about how fast you run or how high you jump or how quick you are in the tryouts. Rather, its about being a basketball player and being intelligent. Overall, I thought NDA had better "athletes." However, Conner played basketball, played to their roles, and played as a team.

 

Why did she wait until the last 2 minutes of the game to try and press? Congrats to Conner and good luck in Bowling Green.

 

Good question.

I have no clue how many points Katie Tierney had tonight but I think she'll be a great addition to the TMC team. She does a lot of things well especially passing and defense. I can't believe no one has changed her FT shooting but other than that, she's a player.

 

Molly Johnson would also be a strong D3 role player as well.

Good job girls, I hope to watch you play our pioneers on March 15th.

Boy, brain cramp on my part. Yes, I meant Hodges. Very solid player. I'm guessing Randy Hodges is her dad or uncle and he was a strong inside player back in the late 70s.

 

Randy is her father.

Randy is her father.

 

Thanks. I think Randy once scored over 40 in a game his senior year. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

NDA had several defensive breakdowns especially in the paint and under the basket. Conner was simply beating them to the basket and IMO the NDA coach never made any adjustments. Why did she wait until the last 2 minutes of the game to try and press? Congrats to Conner and good luck in Bowling Green.

I was curious about the lack of pressure in the 2nd half as well. I didn't think they were in too deep of foul trouble for most of the half. It didn't help though that except for Jackson, Notre Dame shot a terrible percentage for the 2nd half. Hard to press when you're not making shots. When NDA pressured the ball 3/4 court it really slowed Conner's offense and it created some turnovers. There were several times when Conner picked up their dribble on the sideline and in the corner. Notre Dame got the turnover on almost every occasion. When NDA went away from the pressure, it allowed Conner to speed up the game and they were able to go wherever they wanted with the ball. Long, Beasley and Haynes had several layups in the 2nd half. Too many shots in the paint in the 2nd half. A great season though for NDA. Three straight Regional Final appearances speaks for itself. Good Luck to the Lady Cougars in Bowling Green.

Thanks. I think Randy once scored over 40 in a game his senior year. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

Speaking of the acorn not falling far from the tree, how about the interview on ICN6 with Kim Warfield. Her answers were short and to the point. All she wanted to talk about was toughness & intensity. Sure sounds a lot like the Conner boy's coach from the 70's & 80's!

Congrats to Coach Warfield and her team. Glad she is bringing excitement back to CHS sports.

Congrats to Allison Long on 1000 points as a Jr. Tori Fisher did a great job off the bench and she is only a freshman.

The place is packed. Fans, coaches, officials, you name them, they’re here. It’s the 9th Region Girls Finals at Ryle High School.

 

1st Quarter: Devin Beasley opened things up for the Conner Lady Cougars by hitting a three pointer at the 6:27 mark in the 1st. All of the scoring up to the 2:48 mark consisted of 2 three pointers by Conner as they had shutout Notre Dame to that point. Molly Johnson got the scoring underway for the Pandas with a bucket at the 2:32 mark. Baskets were traded toward the 1 minute mark with Conner getting 3 buckets to Notre Dame’s 2. With time running out, Conner was up 12-9. As the buzzer sounded, the Pandas Kirsten Delph launched a three pointer that hit nothing but net, tying the game after the 1st at 12.

 

2nd Quarter: Conner found this Toria Fisher girl sitting on the bench and asked if she knew how to play. She came in the game and scored the first 7 points for the Lady Cougars in the quarter. Notre Dame maintained a 2-3 point lead up until the 1:18 mark when Sammy Johns hit a three pointer that put Conner up for the first time in the period, 25-23. A couple of made free throws by the Cougars Devin Beasley extended the lead to 27-23 as the half ended.

 

3rd Quarter: Notre Dame started out the quarter on a 5 point run before Stephanie Hodges broke the string and started a 8 point run for the Lady Cougars. Maddie Walker would break the run with two made free throws. Katie Tierney would tie the game for the Pandas with a conventional three point play at the 3:17 mark, but Stephanie Hodges came right back with a bucket to give Conner the lead back, 40-38. Casey Jackson would tie the game again at the 2:35 mark with her 10th point of the quarter. Conner would again spurt ahead on back to back conventional three point plays by Gela Haynes and Allison Long, giving Conner a 45-40 lead with 1:22 to go in the quarter. Devin Beasley made it a 7 point game with a shot at the buzzer as Conner extended the 51-44 lead going into the 4th quarter.

 

4th Quarter: Jordan Kramer, who had been in foul trouble for most of the game, made it a 9 point lead with 6:15 to go. Stephanie Hodges made it 11 with two made free throws at 5:45. the lead would go to 13 before Maddie Walker scored a conventional three point play to bring it to 10, 63-53 with 4:30 to go. The lead would go back and forth between 8-10 points until the minute mark when Molly Johnson hit back to back buckets to cut the lead to 7. Notre Dame was forced to foul to get the ball back, but Conner hit 16/19 from the line to push the lead and the victory to 15 points with the final 79-64. Included in those free throws was Allison Long's 1,000 career point.

 

The Conner Lady Cougars will take a trip to E.A. Diddle Arena at Western Kentucky University in the Girls Sweet 16 Tournament.

 

Notre Dame ends their season with a 20-11 record. Conner (28-5) will face the winner of the 2nd Region, Henderson County (23-4) on Thursday afternoon at 12:00 noon.

 

Scoring by Quarter:

 

Notre Dame – 12 11 21 20 - 64

Conner – 12 15 24 28 - 79

 

Individual Scoring – Notre Dame

 

Casey Jackson – 22

Molly Johnson – 20

Kirsten Delph – 7

Maddie Walker – 7

Katie Tierney – 6

Emily Ludwig – 2

 

Individual Scoring – Conner

 

Allison Long – 25

Stephanie Hodges – 17

Devin Beasley – 11

Gela Haynes – 10

Toria Fisher – 7

Sammy Johns – 7

Jordan Kramer – 2

 

All-Tournament Team –

 

Highlands – Hope Cutter

Dayton – Brittany Hall

Dixie Heights – Alicia Barnett

Ludlow – Brooke Jones

Holy Cross – Kirsten Bibbins, Anna Noll

Boone County – Jacey Bradley, Katie Behrens

Notre Dame – Casey Jackson, Maddie Walker, Molly Johnson,

Conner – Allison Long, Jordan Kramer, Devin Beasley

 

MVP – Stephanie Hodges - Conner

I'm working on the photos and video.

 

Get them at this link:

 

http://nokysportsreport.blogspot.com/2008/03/game-spotlight-9th-region-finals-girls.html

Conner Scoring stat of the game.

 

Allison Long - 23 of 25 points in the second half

Stephanie Hodges - 14 of 17 points in the second half.

 

Total 37 of 48 points in the second half between them.

Gela Hayes from Conner did a very good job down low for Conner tonight

Speaking of the acorn not falling far from the tree, how about the interview on ICN6 with Kim Warfield. Her answers were short and to the point. All she wanted to talk about was toughness & intensity. Sure sounds a lot like the Conner boy's coach from the 70's & 80's!

 

The highlight of my night was seeing Wild Bill being interviewed. The guy hasnt aged in 30 years.

Congrats to Conner

Great win for the Lady Cougars. Good luck at State! :banana::banana: