Floyd County girls capture state championship

RICHMOND — Brandon Lemons made it to Richmond and stood the whole time cheering on his Floyd County classmates as they engaged the Central-Wise girls Saturday afternoon in the state basketball championship game.

Earlier in the week, a battered Lemons was lying horizontal on his face on the Buffaloes gym floor baseline, a hunk of ice large enough to sink a small boat resting on his lower back.

He and teammates from the guys’ team, such as bruiser Dorian Harris, had been summoned along with former Buffaloes superstar Lynette Nolley Vest to scrimmage with the girls in order to prepare then for the challenge ahead.

The varsity girls had shown no mercy. Lemons went down hard in one exchange. By Saturday afternoon, Lemons said he was recovering but still hurting.

Many sacrifices were made by the Buffaloes community to get the girls to the Group A Division 2 state title game at the Siegel Center. The girls did the rest, wearing out the hard-nosed Warriors 72-62 to claim the school’s fourth state crown. The father-son coaching tandem of Alan and Travis Cantrell shared in the only boys’ title as well when Travis was a player.

Afterwards, somebody asked Maria Kuchenbuch, one of the team’s two seniors along with Haley Bolt, whether they’d let the guys hold the trophy when they got back to Floyd.

“Ahh, no.”

This one belonged to the girls, and they earned the right not to share. Floyd County (28-2) won its last 18 games.

“It’s overwhelming, really,” Bolt said. “Once it sinks in, I know it’s going to be the most amazing feeling.”

Bolt didn’t score in her 10 minutes, but she did add a steal and a rebound. Early in the year, she injured her knee and put off surgery in order to be here. She made it all the way to the finish line in a highly physical game in which there were a combined 45 fouls and 46 turnovers, 26 by the Warriors (28-2).

One collision was particularly eventful. With Central leading by four in the first half, sophomore point guard Logan Reynolds butted heads with the Buffaloes’ Amanda Hollandsworth on the way down the floor and collapsed in a heap.

“I sort of blacked out,” Reynolds said.

Once she could stand, she was taken back to the locker room to be examined by medical staff for a possible concussion. She eventually returned to the floor, but by then Floyd County had surged into a lead it would maintain to the end.

“I felt like there was some circumstances that were out of our control that played a big role in the game. … The fact that Logan Reynolds had to sit and wasn’t allowed to play, that’s where the tide turned,” Warriors coach Robin Dotson said.

The Buffaloes saw their opening.

“We knew they’d be a lot weaker without her in there,” said Floyd County’s Emily Boothe, who scored eight points.

Christene Phillips contributed one of Floyd County’s four 3-pointers and nine of her 18 points during the Buffaloes 19-4 second quarter run, leaving them with a 36-25 lead.

“She gave us a huge lift in the second quarter,” Travis Cantrell said.

Floyd County maintained control throughout the second half. It helped that they made 12 of their 22 shots (54.5 percent) on the way to shooting 49.1 percent for the game. It was also big that Hollandsworth caught fire for 16 of her game high 26 points to go with a season high 10 rebounds.

That helped offset the effort of Warriors post Laura Gipe, whose 12 boards led to a 37-32 advantage for Central. Gipe added 13 points and was one of three double-figure scorers for her team. Hayley Wyrick, the Warriors’ other big girl, added 22 points and nine rebounds, but she had 13 of her team’s turnovers. Reynolds added 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting. She had five assists and six turnovers.

The Buffaloes were participating in their 11th final four, the previous ones in 2008, 1994, and 1993 ending in championships. Of this group, two starters – Bolt and Kuchenbuch – graduate. The other three starters included point guard Carley Lytton, who is a sophomore, and Phillips and Hollandsworth, who are juniors. Nine players were in action for double-figure minutes.

“All our hard work has gone into this,” Kuchenbuch said. “To go out on top like this is amazing.”

CENTRAL-WISE (28-2)

Wyrick 9-23 3-5 22, Reynolds 6-7 1-4 13, Davis 0-3 2-4 2, Gipe 4-9 5-6 13, Caldwell 0-2 0-0 0, Mullins 1-1 0-0 2, Mulkey 1-4 4-4 6, Salyers 1-2 0-0 2, Cantrell 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-52 15-23 62.

FLOYD COUNTY (28-2)

Lytton 1-3 1-4 4, Bolt 0-1 0-0 0, Kuchenbuch 2-3 0-0 5, Phillips 7-12 4-10 19, Hollandsworth 10-13 6-7 26, Wiseman 1-5 1-4 3, E.Boothe 3-10 1-3 8, Royal 2-3 0-0 4, Belshan 0-1 3-4 3 Spangler 0-0 0-0 0, N.Boothe 0-0 0-0 0, Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Worley 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 16-32 72.

Central-Wise 21 4 21 16—62

Floyd County 17 19 15 21—72

3-point goals — Central-Wise 1-9 (Wyrick 1-7, Davis 0-2), Floyd County 4-12 (Lytton 1-1, Kuchenbuch 1-1, E.Boothe 1-2, Phillips 1-4). Rebounds — Central-Wise 37 (Gipe 12), Floyd County 32 (Hollandsworth 10). Assists — Central-Wise 9 (Reynolds 5), Floyd County 14 (Lytton 4). Total fouls — Central-Wise 25, Floyd County 20. Fouled out — Davis, Reynolds.

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