Sunday, January 16, 2000
Walton Verona makes All-A tournament
Ryan, Schmidt key victory
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
BEDFORD, Ky. — Walton-Verona's girls basketball team is reaping the benefits of what it did five months ago.
Saturday, the work earned the Ladycats a trip to the All A state tournament. Senior guard Caitlyn Ryan's 22 points and junior forward Jessica Schmidt's 17 led to a 65-52 victory over Owen County at Trimble County High School.
The Ladycats meet either Bath County in the opening round of the state small-school tournament at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Eastern Kentucky University's Paul S. McBrayer Arena.
Walton-Verona advanced to state for the first time since its Ninth Region title in 1992. As far as coach Tom Luebbe is concerned, his team's 13-2 record is the result of long ago preparation.
“It's not about (Saturday),” Luebbe said. “It's about what they did before (Saturday). It's lifting weights in the preseason, going to open gym, summer league. All that stuff my girls did then is paying off now.”
Schmidt said the 39 total points and 20 rebounds she and Ryan combined for were the latest in a long line of strong performances.
“We always know what each other's doing,” Schmidt said. “We've played together for so long.”
Ryan scored 15 first-half points, including seven in the final 2:05 of the second quarter on two drives off a steal and rebound.
“That's what I work on all the time,” Ryan said. “I worked on my penetration a lot.”
For the game, Ryan was 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. She added 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Leah Patterson led the Lady Rebels with 15 points, but Walton-Verona's mixture of full-court pressure and man-to-man defense held Kayla Elliston to just two. Patterson was practically Owen County's entire offense the second quarter. She scored nine straight points to help pull her team to 20-19 with 4:05 left.
Luebbe had a second concern: foul trouble. Schmidt committed her third foul with 2:34 left in the half, and junior forward Angela Hegland drew her fourth with 1:52 remaining.
As it turned out, Luebbe need not have worried. A 9-3 run after Schmidt left gave the Ladycats a 34-23 halftime lead, and a 20-8 third quarter led by Schmidt's six points and senior center Megan Messmer's two three-pointers resulted in a 54-31 advantage.
OWEN COUNTY (52): Osborne 2-0 4, Kermicle 1-0 3, Doss 1-0 2, Smith 3-3 9, Patterson 5-4 15, Durrett 1-1 3, Karsner 1-1 3, Elliston 1-0 2, Howard 1-2 4, Perkins 3-1 7. Totals: 19-12 52.
WALTON-VERONA (65): C. Ryan 8-4 22, McIntyre 1-0 2, Frilling 1-0 2, Hegland 3-0 6, Messmer 4-1 11, Vonhandorf 1-2 5, Schmidt 5-7 17. Totals: Messmer 3, Ryan 2, Vonhandorf.
Owen County ....... 10 13 8 21—52
Walton-Verona ....... 14 20 20 11—65
Three-point goals: OC-Kermicle, Patterson. WV-. Records: OC 11-4, WV 13-2.
All-tournament team: Carroll County - Kari Graves; Williamstown - Angie Richardson; Gallatin County - Jade Maxwell; Spencer County - Courtney Hall, Shanna Noel; Trimble County - Brittney Wingham, Beth Wagner; Owen County - Leah Patterson, Kate Smith, Jamie Perkins; Walton-Verona - Caitlyn Ryan, Angela Hegland, Megan Messmer. Most valuable player: Jessica Schmidt, Walton-Verona.
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