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Prep Basketball: Lady Cards left it all on the court
By Keith Taylor/Sun Sports Editor
March 13, 2010

BOWLING GREEN - Brittany Black fought back tears but held her head high as she walked off the court at E.A. Diddle Arena Friday night.

Black and the George Rogers Clark Lady Cardinals, making their first appearance in the girls Sweet Sixteen since 1995, battled heavily-favored Rockcastle County to finish before dropping a 56-45 setback in the quarterfinals of the girls Sweet Sixteen Friday night.

Clark (19-11) survived a double-overtime contest against Ohio County in the opening round of the tournament Thursday night and had just enough left in the tank to challenge the Lady Rockets before Rockcastle pulled away down the stretch.

“We had a chance and that’s all you can ask for,” Clark coach Scott True said afterward.

The Lady Cardinals trailed 46-44 with four minutes left, but the Lady Rockets outscored Clark 10-1 in the final three minutes to end Clark’s successful season. Rockcastle outscored Clark 12-6 in the final quarter. True said the spurt was the turning point.

“They made some great plays,” True said. “They made a block, made a steal and did what they were supposed to do (down the stretch). We tried to answer that run, but I think we were a little bit tired in the fourth quarter.”

The Lady Rockets (29-4) advanced to the state semifinals and will take on Scott County at 12:30 p.m. today at Diddle Arena. The Lady Cardinals edged Boone County 67-66 in overtime in the third of four quarterfinal contests Friday.

Jewell Rogers scored five of Clark’s first seven points and had four in a 6-0 run by Clark that turned a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 advantage with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Rogers scored eight points in the first eight minutes and finished with 13 points.

“We stayed positive and played hard the whole time,” Rogers said. “At the end, they were the better team.”

Clark, which has relied on its defense during an impressive run to close out the season, forced 15 turnovers and committed just nine. True said the Lady Rockets’ defense was equally impressive. Rockcastle center Sara Hammond finished with 11 points, had nine rebounds and blocked seven shots.

“They made it tough on us to score,” True said. “They were very tough to defend.”

The Lady Rockets built a 21-15 lead, but Clark connected on three straight shots from long range that turned a seven-point deficit into a 24-21 lead. Brittany Black, Taylor Kindred and Preshia Rogers each had a 3-pointer during the brief spurt.

Clark made four of six shots from long range in the opening half.

Sydney Arvin came off the bench and led the Lady Rockets with eight points in the first two quarters. Arvin finished with eight points.

Black connected on a 3-pointer that gave Clark a 33-30 advantage with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter. Clark led 39-38 following a three-point play by Preshia Rogers, but the Lady Rockets regained the lead on back-to-back treys by Arvin and Jackie Alexander for a 44-39 lead after three quarters of play.

Preshia Rogers led Clark in scoring with 15 points. Rockcastle County guard Jackie Alexander led all scorers with 23 points.

Black finished with eight points and was named to the all-tournament team.

Clark closed out the season by winning 13 of its last 15 games, including a 67-63 triumph over Ohio County in double overtime in the opening round.

“We had a fabulous season and went on a great run,” True said.

Clark 13 15 11 06 - 45

Rockcastle 14 14 16 12 - 56

CLARK (19-11) – P. Rogers 15, Black 8, J. Rogers 13, Kindred 7, Gay 2.

ROCKCASTLE (29-4) – Hammond 11, Arvin 8, Alexander 23, Abney 2, Lawrence 9, Hunter 1, Burton 2.

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