Wednesday, March 10, 1999
Holmes girls win region at buzzer
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer Contributor
UNION — Dennis Soard's going away party isn't over yet — and it's moving to Bowling Green.
Soard, who's retiring as the Holmes girls basketball coach after 13 years, watched senior center Dorrian Jackson convert classmate Mindy Bishop's pass into a layup with less than a second left to give the Lady Bulldogs a 51-50 win over Highlands in the Ninth Region championship game Tuesday night at Ryle High School.
“Coaches always say you win with seniors, and I guess they're right,” Soard said.
Holmes (23-6) advances to the Sweet 16 state tournament March 18 at Diddle Arena on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green. The Lady Bulldogs will face Second Region champion Hopkins County Central, which beat Webster County 54-52 Tuesday.
Neither team led by more than seven points in a physical game dominated by Jackson and Highlands freshman Tara Boothe.
Jackson, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and freshman guard Erica Hallman led Holmes with 16 points each. Jackson also had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Boothe led all scorers with 29 points, 15 in the third quarter to help Highlands (26-5) wipe out Holmes's 21-14 halftime lead and help the Ladybirds take a 42-35 lead with 6:25 left in the game. Less than a minute later, Highlands senior Stephanie Sandfoss had to leave the game with four fouls, which helped spur Holmes's comeback.
Sandfoss returned to hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to give Highlands a 50-46 lead. Bishop responded with a three-pointer and Holmes got its last chance when it rebounded Lindsey Hamel's miss on the front end of a one-and-one and called timeout with 8.2 seconds left.
“We set it up for Hallman to penetrate and try a jumper and, with two people there, maybe we get a stickback,” Soard said. “But they triple-teamed her, and she got it to Mindy.”
“I didn't hear anything,” Bishop said. “In a split second, I thought about taking the shot, but the way I've been shooting, I decided against it. Then I saw Dorrian.”
“I remember yelling for Mindy to get me the ball, or at least I think I did,” said Jackson, who sat out last season. “When I got the ball, I put it up and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see if it went in or out. Then everybody was mobbing me.”
The regional championship is the second for Holmes and the first since 1993.
HIGHLANDS (50) — Sandfoss 2 2 7, Ripberger 1 2 5, Stefanopoulos 0 2 2, Hamel 1 5 7, Boothe 12 4 29. Totals: 16 15-18 50.
HOLMES (51) — V Jackson 1 0 2, Bishop 5 0 11, Hallman 5 3 16, Sterling 2 0 4, Goodenough 1 0 2, D. Jackson 5 6 16. Totals: 19 9-17 51.
Highlands ....... 9 5 21 15—50
Holmes ....... 9 12 12 18—51
Three-point goals: Hi—Sandfoss, Ripberger, Boothe. Ho—Hallman 3, Bishop. Records: Hi 26-5, Ho 23-6.
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