Friday, March 19, 1999
Holmes girls lose in Sweet 16
Hopkins Co. Central sinks Lady Bulldogs 69-65 in OT
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Holmes girls' basketball team reached the state tournament March 9 with a last-second shot. In Thursday's first-round game against 2nd Region champion Hopkins County Central, the Lady Bulldogs exited the tournament because of some late heroics by their opponent.
Senior guard Jamie Seaton's basket with 6.3 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime, where the Storm claimed a 69-65 victory at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena.
Seaton led the Storm with 23 points, with 17 of them in the second half and overtime, while junior Cassie Hooper scored 11 of her 13 over the same span. Holmes freshman guard Erica Hallman led all scorers with 25, but only four came in the extra period.
“We played a lot of close games in the season,” Hopkins Central coach Nancy Oldham said. “I wasn't super-worried in the closing seconds.”
The game also ended Holmes coach Dennis Soard's 13-year career with a 251-120 record.
“I told the girls there's nothing to be ashamed of,” Soard said. “We had four people score in double figures. I'm proud of that.”
Sophomore forward Natasha Sterling scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Holmes; Hallman served five assists, and senior forward Dorrian Jackson and senior guard Mindy Bishop each scored 11.
What may make the loss hard for Holmes to take is the way Seaton and Hooper scored in the fourth quarter and regulation. Seaton's last basket in regulation was a drive through the middle of the Holmes defense, while Hooper scored seven of Hopkins Central's nine overtime points.
“On the film I'd seen, (Seaton) didn't penetrate that much,” Soard said. “She took it down there and laid it in.”
Bishop and Hooper each hit a free throw in overtime, an Hallman made it 63-61 Holmes with 2:58 to go.
It was the last Lady Bulldogs lead. Hooper's three-pointer, a Seaton drive and two Hooper free throws made it 68-63 Storm with 1:32 to go. Hallman scored with 43 seconds left, and a Hooper free throw with 29.4 seconds remaining ended the scoring.
Hopkins Central made its first tournament appearance since consolidation three years ago of West Hopkins and South Hopkins. Holmes was in the tournament for the first time since 1993.
Predictably, the Storm were nervous at first. Hooper opened the scoring 22 seconds in the game but didn't score again for more than three minutes.
Holmes countered quickly. Hallman and Bishop each hit three-pointers, and Jackson's two free throws gave the Lady Bulldogs an 8-3 lead after three minutes.
Soard sought to give Holmes (23-7) height advantage. He started 5-foot-10 senior Beth Goodenough at center instead of the 5-8 Sterling.
By the end of the first quarter, however, it was the Storm who had the better front line. Junior forward Mary Folk, who led all scorers at halftime with 10 points and finished with 16, scored six over the final 4:28 to give Hopkins Central a 15-12 lead after eight minutes.
Holmes spent the second quarter trying to force the ball inside, which led to eight Lady Bulldogs turnovers for the half and three by Hallman.
“We wanted to take our time and score,” Soard said. “They pulled their zone out a little bit and bottled up Erica.”
And it didn't help that Jackson, who averaged 18.7 points in the 9th Region tournament, drew her third foul with 5:07 left in the half and scored just four points. She fouled out with 22.4 seconds left in regulation.
HOPKINS COUNTY CENTRAL (69) — Hooper 4-9 4-7 13, Seaton 7-13 7-9 23, Whitaker 0-1 6-12 6, Hall 1-2 0-2 2, Brown 4-9 1-2 9, Folk 8-14 0-0 16, Boedigheimer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-48 18-32 69.
HOLMES (65) — V. Jackson 1-3 1-3 3, D. Jackson 3-5 5-7 11, Goodenough 1-3 0-0 2, Hallman 10-26 3-5 25, Bishop 4-9 1-2 11, Brinkman 0-1 0-0 0, Sterling 6-10 1-4 13. Totals: 25-57 11-21 65.
Hopkins Co. Central ....... 15 17 12 16 9— 69
Holmes ....... 12 13 24 11 5— 65
Three-point field goals: HCC 3-of-8 (Hooper 1-4, Season 2-3, Hall 0-1), H 4-of-16 (D. Jackson 0-1, Hallman 2-11, Bishop 2-4). Records: HCC 25-7, H 23-7. Attendance: 6,135.
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