George Rogers Clark players thought their silver ball was plenty pretty when they finished runner-up in the girls’ basketball state tournament to five-time champ Sacred Heart.
But they’d said since the start of the season that they wanted to hoist gold at the end of this season.
There the Cardinals were on Saturday night at Rupp Arena lifting the large championship trophy — with its shiny gold ball — after bouncing back from a rusty start to win the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Sweet 16 over Assumption 48-43.
It was the first girls’ state tourney title for Clark County, who had been one of the top teams in the state for the last few years and had advanced to the Sweet 16 five straight times and nine of the past 10 seasons. But the best they could manage up until now was silver.
“From day one when we started in the summer, the talk was: ‘Gold ball, not silver ball,’” Cardinals Coach Robbie Clark said. “We wanted to get back here. We want to win the gold ball. Every day it was talked about. Every single day.”
Clark County (33-2) was led by 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots from Eliyah Strode. Tournament MVP Teigh Yeast, a Miss Basketball candidate, added 12 points, four rebounds and four steals. Kennedy Stamper had 10 points, most coming at key moments as the Cardinals clawed back from a seven-point deficit early. They trailed 21-19 at the break.
Star Ashlinn James had a game-best 20 points for the Rockets (27-7), who were in the tournament for the first time since 2007. Assumption started the game hot, hitting seven of its 11 from the field to open the first quarter, but they went cold in the second quarter as the Cardinals found their defense again, making just one of eight shots before the half.
