Coming off of a blowout win over Pikeville in the first round of the tournament, Notre Dame had its sights set on adding another “W” to the win column to get one step closer to cutting down the nets at the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Sweet 16.
But in one minute, Taylor County’s Kennedy Deener came between the Pandas and their goal. The freshman nailed two three-pointers in the final minute to put the game out of reach and send the Cardinals to the semifinals at Rupp Arena.
Stuck in a scoring pendulum for four quarters, the Lady Cardinals (29-6) and the Pandas played a game of gritty offense, fighting to gain some kind of momentum.
“They let us play more physically [at the Sweet 16], which is fine, but that allows me to distribute to the rest of my teammates,” Deener said. “It allows me to get some shots up on the 3 line, and I think it works out either way.”
Down to the last four minutes, neither team was able to pull away from a tied score until 5th Region player of the year Deener seized the opportunity in front of her.
Taylor County guard Greta Bradstreet handed the ball off to Deener as they made their way down the court where Deener cut right and made the 3-point shot.
Without even giving Notre Dame a moment to breathe, Deener got the ball again, this time taking it to her left, sinking the basket from behind the 3-point line to extend the Cards’ lead to six points. Deener finished with a game-best 19 points with five rebounds.
The opportunity in front of Deener was paved by teammate Avery Raikes. Raikes began the Cardinals’ streak to pull away from the tie with just under six minutes to go.
“She’s always making something happen for our team, even if it’s not here physically on the stats and numbers, she’s always out there contributing,” Deener said of Raikes, who added 14 points. “We could not have done this without her.”
The Pandas answered Deener’s two shots with a layup by senior Joslyn LaBordeaux-Humphrey, but they fell short. Emma Foltzapfel paced the Pandas (25-8) with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Taylor County was able to keep Notre Dame’s fast-paced, full court offense at bay for the last two minutes of the game.
In the final 20 seconds, Deener drew two fouls and sank all four free throw attempts.
“I told them at the beginning of the post-season it was nine games to win the whole thing, and we’ve kind of been looking at it as a staircase. Nine steps,” Coach Donnie Swiney said. “Today was number seven.”
Taylor County will face Assumption in the semifinals on Saturday morning. It will be their first meeting of the season.
