Recap from the 44th District Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is nothing like cutting down the nets after winning a district championship! Rivalries run deep, the gyms are high energy, and the bragging rights last all the way until next season. In the heart of basketball country, Kentucky, the energy during district tournament time is on another level. Every possession matters and every player is leaving it all on the floor. The 44th District brought the intensity and delivered some big time performances!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 44th District Tournament took place on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University where four teams battled for the right to call themselves district champions!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In one semifinal, the Madison Southern Lady Eagles under first year coach Juan Byars locked in defensively and defeated Madison Central 34 to 24 to punch their ticket to the championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the other semifinal, the Berea Lady Pirates battled past Model 36 to 24 with several players stepping up in big moments.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='899586' first='Avery' last='Plessinger'] delivered in her final district tournament appearance leading her team in scoring with 10 points while going an impressive 8 for 10 from the free throw line! Avery was a consistent force all season long leading Berea with 13.8 points per game while also finishing the year with the most three pointers and free throws on the team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1173071' first='Brooklyn' last='Smith'] stepped up with confidence knocking down the team's only shots from deep and hitting 3 triples finishing with 9 points! She also finished second on the team this season in three pointers made showing the bright future ahead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Kadence Stepp","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"12122","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Berea High School ","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69ab18cfd5038"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Senior Kadence Stepp added 8 points and 4 rebounds while doing a little bit of everything for her team. She finished the season second in scoring and led the team on the glass averaging 7 rebounds per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Cora Reed","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"12122","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Berea High School","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69ab18cfd5120"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Senior Cora Reed dominated the boards with a huge 11 rebound performance to go along with 7 points. Cora was incredibly efficient all season shooting nearly 50 percent from the field while finishing as the team's second leading rebounder.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The championship game belonged to Madison Southern as they came out locked in on both ends of the floor and delivered a dominant performance to capture the district title with a 70 to 17 victory!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='942595' first='Cami' last='Duerson'] caught absolute fire leading the way with 20 points while knocking down six three pointers! Cami averaged 9.9 points per game this season and was the team's most reliable free throw shooter hitting 79.3 percent from the line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='566173' first='Laci' last='Sandlin'] added 12 points and 3 rebounds continuing the strong season she put together. Laci led the team in scoring this year with 15.2 points per game and also led the team in rebounding with 5.2 per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='961271' first='Briana' last='Hensley'] also poured in 12 points in the championship game. She finished the season as the team's second leading scorer at 12.4 points per game and was a major threat from deep leading the team with 72 three pointers on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Adeliah Collier","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2029","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"12122","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Madison Southern ","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_program":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69ab18cfd51d7"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Freshman Adeliah Collier added 6 points and pulled down a team high 5 rebounds showing her toughness inside. Adeliah made a big leap this season finishing in the top four on the team in scoring and top two in rebounding.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 44th District Tournament once again proved why Kentucky high school basketball is special. Passion, pride, and championship moments filled the floor at Eastern Kentucky University and one team left with the nets and the crown!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->