KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16: Wednesday Afternoon Standouts and Recap

The 2020 KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 got underway Wednesday afternoon with some of the favorites to win it all and some of the top players in the state in action. Here’s what happened and who stood out in the first couple games.   Bullitt East vs Elizabethtown The Bullitt East Lady Chargers defeated the Elizabethtown Panthers 66-55 in Wednesday’s opener to advance to the next round. The key to this game appeared to be that Bullitt East simply wanted it more. They came out flying all over the place, playing with a sense of urgency. This led to a somewhat nervy first quarter, but eventually they started taking advantage of their energy, getting plenty of steals, second chance opportunities, and drawing fouls. The Panthers did not start to show any real fire until the 4th quarter, and by then it was too late. That, combined with a poor E-Town shooting performance, led the Lady Chargers to victory. [player_tooltip player_id="80499" first="Lexi" last="Taylor"], Bullitt East- This was a standout game for one of the states top players. Taylor did everything well, creating offense both in the open floor and by getting to the line for 26 total points. The senior also had a game-high 9 rebounds and made numerous good passes to set up teammates as part of an excellent all-around performance. [player_tooltip player_id="31807" first="Whitney" last="Hay"], E-Town- Another of the top players in the state, Hay turned in a strong performance of her own, even if she couldn’t consistently match Taylor’s energy. There were times in the game where she looked unstoppable taking the ball to the rim, leading the Panthers with 16 points as well as 6 rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="106153" first="Gracie" last="Merkle"], Bullitt East- While Taylor dominated the offense for the Lady Chargers, Merkle provided the team their next most dangerous threat. The sophomore took advantage of her tremendous size to score 10 points that nobody on E-Town could stop. She also played key interior defense to help the Lady Chargers on the other end. [player_tooltip player_id="88430" first="Kayra" last="Freeman"], E-Town- The Panthers’ best offensive creator, Freeman made some nice plays for an E-Town team that largely struggled to create offense. She got inside and converted on some good layups and floaters for 14 points, and made several other nice passes for a number of assists. [player_tooltip player_id="106141" first="Emma" last="Egan"], Bullitt East- Freeman’s counterpart on Bullitt East, Egan ran the team’s offense during their maor successful spells. While she couldn’t match Freeman’s scoring acumen, Egan made equally good passes and also played strong defense, as well as showcasing her team’s hustle in coming up with the loose ball that sealed the game for the Lady Chargers. [player_tooltip player_id="31820" first="Ellie" last="Taylor"], E-Town- The player who best matched Bullitt East’s fight throughout the game, Taylor came up with numerous steals on the defensive end and was always on the attack on offense. While her contributions will not show up in the box score as much as some of her teammates, Taylor did as much to keep the Panthers in the game as anyone. Emily Ezell, Bullitt East- Speaking of making contributions without filling up the box score, this spot could go to any number of Bullitt East players who consistently hustled and played tenacious defense to give their team the edge, and everyone on the court showed their will to win. The spot goes to Egan though, and rightfully so. As well as making all the types of plays described above, she was also able to convert on some good buckets inside for 8 points, dish out 3 assists, and come up with 3 steals making her the standout of the team effort.   Letcher County Central vs Ryle Even without Miss Basketball favorite [player_tooltip player_id="31803" first="Maddie" last="Scherr"] (who dressed but did not play with a wrap on her ankle) Ryle delivered a strong team effort to advance them to the next round. While sophomore Kaylee Banks put forth a tremendous performance to keep things close in the 1st half, Ryle simply had too much all-around talent for them to deal with and showed enough confidence to pull away in the 2nd. Here are some of the standout players.   Kaylee Banks, LCC- As mentioned above, Banks put forth an outstanding effort and was far and away the standout player on the court. She generated almost all of the Lady Cougar offense by getting to the rim, converting putbacks on the offensive glass, and setting her teammates up with passes. She ended up scoring 21 of her team’s 36 points to go along with a game high 13 rebounds in an awesome individual performance that wasn’t quite enough. Abby Holtman, Ryle- While the Lady Raiders certainly put together a balanced team effort, Holtman was their best player much of the way. She took over in a close first half, knocking down 3 pointers and hauling in an impressive number of rebounds for her size, totaling 11 points and 6 rebounds to go along with 3 steals on impressive defense when all was said and done. [player_tooltip player_id="88421" first="Brie" last="Crittendon"], Ryle- After barely playing in the 1st half due to 2 early fouls, Crittendon returned in the 2nd and played extremely well to put the game away. She brought control and confidence to what had been a somewhat shaky Ryle offense, ending up with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists to boot. Quinn Eubank, Ryle- Eubank provided a strong inside presence for the Lady Raiders. As well as scoring, rebounding, and defending inside for 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Eubank ran the floor well to convert several buckets off of fast-breaks.