Bardstown came out on fire Wednesday with a 14-1 run to start the game, pressing Caverna into submission by the end of the first quarter in a 56-30 rout in the semifinals of the "All A" Classic 5th Region tournament. "I thought we played well as a team," Bardstown senior guard Jordan Ball said. "We started off strong and kept it up the entire game." The win puts Bardstown (17-4) into the championship game at 6 p.m. tonight against Green County (12-5). The Tigers beat the Dragons 72-54 - also at Bardstown - 12 days ago. The Tigers are currently on an eight-game winning streak. A win tonight would be Bardstown\'s third consecutive "All A" 5th Region title and would punch its ticket to next week\'s "All A" Classic state tournament in Richmond. The Tigers forced four turnovers in the first four minutes and sprinted out to a 17-3 lead after the first quarter, and were never seriously threatened after that. "Our defense has been great all year, we did a good job of not giving good looks," Bardstown coach Paul Stone said. The Tigers did not allow a Caverna bucket until less than a minute remained in the first quarter, and permitted only two field goals in the first half. Elise Blanford was strong on the defensive end, blocking five shots on the night and altering several more. Candyce Lewis was dominant on the boards, tallying 12 rebounds. By halftime the lead was 24-7 and it could have been even worse had the Tigers been a bit hotter from the field. "We missed some shots early," Stone said. "We got good looks, but we moved the ball well. There\'s going to be nights where the ball is not falling, so we\'ve got to play defense." The Tigers did just that, grabbing 12 steals and forcing 14 turnovers on the night and holding a 40-32 rebounding advantage. Daizah Kimberland led the way offensively with 20 points. Shanissa Douglas was solid as well with 13 points, three steals and six rebounds. Sanna Lagerroos gave the Tigers a spark off the bench with nine points and four rebounds. "It was decent," Lagerroos said of her performance. "I just did what I was supposed to do and kept my head up. We all did a good job." Even with the dominating show, Stone saw a few things he thinks the Tigers need to improve upon. "They (Caverna) rebounded on the offensive end better than I wanted and they forced more turnovers than I like to have," he said. Despite the decisive earlier win over the Dragons, Stone is taking nothing for granted tonight. "Green County has a good squad," he said. "They have five good starters and there is little drop-off with their subs. We outscored them 40-12 in the paint last time and will need to do it again."
"All A" Classic 5th Region semifinals Bardstown 56, Caverna 30 C 3 4 10 13-30 B 17 7 19 13-56 C (30) - Jo. Austin 9, Ballou 3, Ja. Austin 2, Bragg 7, Embry 9. B (56) - Douglas 13, Lewis 4, Kimberland 20, Ball 7, Ahern 3, Lagerroos 9.
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