MURRAY — Friday night’s Murray Bank Crosstown Classic girls’ basketball battle between 4th District rivals Murray High and host Calloway County was a typical contest in this series.
Both teams played hard. The rather loud thump of bodies hitting the floor was heard throughout the game. Defense ruled and, yes, the game came down to the final quarter.
In the end, Calloway broke open a close game to take a 47-31 win at Jeffrey Gymnasium that evened the season series at one win apiece. Calloway also took a one-game lead on both Murray High and Christian Fellowship for second place in the district race by improving to 2-2, while Murray High dropped to 1-3 and CFS stayed at 1-2 as it faces a visit Monday night to The Jeff.
“It was pretty nip-and-tuck for most of the game. Thankfully, we were able to lengthen it out toward the end of the game, where we were comfortable that we could actually run the clock and force them to have to guard us,” said Calloway Head Coach David Brown, whose team — 4-15 overall with the win avenged a 45-40 loss to the Lady Tigers (7-13) in December at Murray State.
“They didn’t quit, and we knew they weren’t going to quit, and (Murray High Head Coach Tom) Foust does a good job with them. His ladies are going to battle, and he was going to have them ready, so we knew we had to come out and finish the game.”
The Lady Lakers seemed to be in control early, taking a 12-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, but Murray High showed grit in not allowing them to build the lead by not committing too many turnovers against Calloway’s full-court press defense. That determination paid dividends at the end of the second quarter as guard Riley Campbell gave the Lady Tigers a 21-20 lead with a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer.
“We know teams are going to press us, but we try to focus on our game and teach patience, patience, patience,” Foust said. “Now, at times, we do like to get out and play in transition but, mainly, we like to play at our speed. That’s when we’re at our best and I thought we handled the press really well.”
After taking a 30-27 lead to the fourth quarter, Calloway built a seven-point lead in the early stages of the final quarter but Murray High would not go away, keeping contact with the Lady Lakers on guard Reese Downey’s drive and score that cut the lead to 34-29. However, after Calloway guard Jaiden Koch’s layup and Murray High forward Alyssa Daughrity’s free throw left the score at 36-30, Calloway began steadily stretching the lead.
Two free throws from forward Sayler Lowe upped the lead to eight, then her score on the block pushed the lead to 40-31 with less than three minutes left. Koch (12 points) then hit four foul shots in a row to give Calloway the first double-digit lead of the night for either team with less than minute left, sealing the win.
“The big thing is we finished,” said Brown, whose team was a superb 10-of-12 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter with Koch going 8-of-8 herself. “I told our assistant coaches when we were up seven or so that, if we could ever get it to double digits, that could make a big difference. That’s part of finishing ballgames and we’ve been talking about that.
Lowe led all scorers with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds. Forward Carson McReynolds had eight points four rebounds, while forward Lexie McClure had six points and five boards. Guard Addi Schumacher had one point and two rebounds and, while she did not score, guard Jaycee Crouch had three rebounds.
Daughrity led Murray High with seven points and eight rebounds, while Downey and guard Brooklynne Darnell both had six. Forward Madeline Howell had four points and four boards, Campbell had three points and three boards and guard/forward Kendyll English and guard Mylee Smith both had two points.
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