The Carlisle County Lady Comets captured the First Region All “A” Championship after rallying from behind to beat Mayfield 63-59.
WILL MUITER | The Sun
The Mayfield Lady Cardinals finished as runner-ups in the All “A” Region Tournament after falling to Carlisle on Saturday night.
WILL MUITER | The Sun
After trailing by seven to start the fourth quarter, the Carlisle County Lady Comets rallied back to defeat Mayfield 63-59 and capture their first All “A” Region Championship since 2023. A three by Olivia Webb in the final two minutes gave them the cushion they needed, and junior Macee Hogancamp knocked down some free throws to close out the title match.
“‘It took everybody’ is what I told this group over here,” head coach Ember Wright said about her team after the title. “I said, ‘Whether you played 32 minutes or you didn’t play a minute, you all got us here.’ It’s earned practice every day.”
“This is insane,” tournament MVP Macee Hogancamp said. “We’ve done this twice before, my seventh and eighth grade year, but this is the time it’s really been my team and my girls that we’ve all grown up playing together. We weren’t expected to win this, so it makes it a lot better. Mayfield’s a really good team. We played them once before and we lost. I’m just stoked. I’m ready to go back to state.”
The contest came down to the wire, the Lady Cardinals leading a majority of the way. Down 42-35 entering the final period, the Lady Comets slowly started to bring themselves back thanks to some heavy contributions from Macee Hogancamp and Olivia Webb.
Halfway through the period, Macee hogancamp gave Carlisle their first lead of the night after converting an and one to make the score 47-46. Two minutes later with tensions in the gym running high, Webb drilled a three from the wing to increase the Lady Comets’ lead to five, now ahead 57-52.
In the final stages, Lex Feagin hit a three to cut Mayfield’s deficit to just two. Hogancamp was fouled and hit one of her two free throws, giving the Lady Cards a chance to tie it up. A three point shot missed the mark, and another Hogancamp free throw extended the lead to four and sealed off the 63-59 win.
Olivia Webb led the Lady Comets with 19, nine of which in the fourth quarter. Behind her was Macee Hogancamp with 16, half of her total in the fourth as well. Gracyn edging knocked down a trio of threes as apart of her 11.
A notable accomplishment during the game was Mayfield senior Lay Mayes scoring her 2000th career point. Needing four points going into the game, Mayes knocked down a three, then later in the first quarter, hit a free throw to eclipse that point mark. After scoring 25 points in the title bout, she now sits at 2,021 career points, with the chance to add onto that mark the rest of her final season.
With this free throw, Mayfield senior Lay Mayes notched her 2000th career point, and now sits at 2,021 and counting.
WILL MUITER | The Sun
Carlisle will now participate in the All “A” State Tournament this Wednesday at the Sportscenter in Owensboro. There they will be squaring off against the Second Region champs Lyon County, that game tipping off at 8 PM. Now winning their last six, including the All “A” title, the Lady Comets hope to take their momentum into Owensboro, with the chance to make a run.
“The sky’s the limit with this group,” Coach Wright said. “Not having a senior, it’s exciting to see what’s coming back. Our goal was to get here. Well now we’re here, and we’re not done. Now we want to win.”
Following the game, the girls All-Tournament Team was announced, recognizing representatives from the competing schools for their performances on the court during the tournament. Recipients include:
Gracee Beere- Ballard Memorial; Kate O’Neill- Ballard Memorial; Audrey Tucker- Hickman County; Jenna Byassee- Hickman County; Gracyn Edging- Carlisle County; Kendra Winstead- Mayfield; Olivia Webb- Carlisle County; Lay Mayes- Mayfield; Tournament MVP- Macee Hogancamp- Carlisle County.
Following the game, the girls All-Tournament Team was announced, recognizing representatives from the competing schools for their performances on the court during the tournament.
WILL MUITER | The Sun