By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Three Walton-Verona players made six free throws in the final 37 seconds to secure a 53-48 win over Newport Central Catholic in the first round of the All “A” Classic girls sectional playoffs on Wednesday at Walton-Verona.
With the game on the line, juniors Maggie Buerger, Audrey Carrico and Kylie Lay each made a pair of pressure-packed free throws for the Bearcats (12-6), who will play a home game against West Carter in the quarterfinal round of the small-school state playoffs next week.
Walton-Verona center Maggie Buerger makes a power move to the basket in the All “A” Classic playoff game. (Photo by Carla Martin)
Buerger and Lay finished with 14 points each, followed by guard Haylee Neely with 12. Lay made four 3-point goals on her home court and the Bearcats had an 18-6 scoring advantage from behind the arc.
NewCath junior guard Rylee Turner was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points. She made a field goal and free throw with 50 seconds left that sliced Walton-Verona’s lead to 47-45, but the Bearcats prevailed by making free throws.
Walton-Verona made 17 of 19 free throws during the game to offset shooting 39 percent (15 of 38) from the field. NewCath shot 37 percent (17 of 45) from the field and converted just 12 of their 21 free throws.
The Bearcats also won the battle on the boards by a 27-23 margin with Buerger pulling down seven missed shots.
Walton-Verona lost in the championship game of All “A” Classic girls state tournament the last two years. If the Bearcats win next week’s sectional game against West Carter, they’ll advance to the final four of this year’s tournament to be played March 5-6 at Eastern Kentucky University.
The sectional playoff format is being used because the state tournament that was supposed to be played last week had to be cancelled due to the heavy snowfall that swept across the Kentucky.
WALTON-VERONA 9 14 12 18 – 53
NEWCATH 5 15 12 16 – 48
WALTON-VERONA (12-6): Neely 3 5 12, Heuser 2 2 6, Carrico 0 2 2, Lay 4 2 14, Schneider 2 1 5, Buerger 4 5 14. Totals: 15 17 53.
NEWCATH (7-7): Heck 3 0 7, Rodriquez 2 2 6, McCloskey 3 2 8, Meyer 1 0 3, Turner 8 7 23, Gibson 0 1 1. 17 12 48.
3-point goals: WV – Lay 4, Neely, Buerger. NC – Heck, Meyer.
West Carter 53, Brossart 43
West Carter outscored Brossart 11-3 in the final four minutes and the Mustangs were eliminated in the first round of the All “A” Classic girls state playoffs for the third straight year.
Playing the sectional game on its home court, West Carter opened up a 31-20 lead in the first half. After the break, Brossart used a 16-6 scoring run in the third quarter to reduce the margin to 37-35.
A breakaway basket by Brossart senior forward Rosie Jump pulled her team within 42-39 midway through the fourth quarter. West Carter pulled away at the end with nine of its last 11 points coming at the free throw line.
Junior forward Allie Stone made five of those nine free throws and finished with a game-high 28 points for West Carter (6-4). The top scorers for Brossart (11-4) were senior center Marie Kiefer with 17 points and Jump with 10.
Kiefer, a Ball State University recruit, moved into second place on Brossart’s career scoring list with 1,555 total points. The team’s all-time leader is Katie Schwegmann with 2,917.
Walton-Verona forward Paige Heuser tries to steal the ball from Annie Heck of NewCath. (Photo by Carla Martin)
