Lady Demons' D comes up big at Bracken

Lady Demons' defense does job in win over 10th Region Lady Bears

Williamstown's Ashely Marksbury and Michaela Kennedy put defensive pressure on a player in recent action. (Photo by Sally Cheek)

By Wade Holland

Publisher

Feeling like they had something to prove after a disappointing loss in the semifinals of the All A Classic, the Williamstown Lady Demons returned with a vengeance on Monday at Bracken Co.

The Lady Demons put together one of their better defensive performances of the season in the 52-48 win over the 10th Region All A champion Lady Bears, shutting down Bracken Co. star Bailey Cummins, one of the state's leading scorers with an average of nearly 24 points per game, holding her to only 10 points.

Bracken Co. came into the game as the winningest team in the 10th Region, fresh off their championship win in the All A Classic, and winners of six of their last seven games.

"The Bracken Co. game was a great win for our team because we executed defensively to a T," said Williamstown Coach Kasey Mason. "The girls were able to travel outside our region, and win a big game on the road, and I think that they are really starting to show their growth and maturity as a team. It's also great to see them showing up hungry to win after a tough loss in the All "A", but that is to be expected because they've set 2 or 3 new, huge, goals for themselves for the rest of the season."

The win upped Williamstown's record to 9-6 overall and keeps the Lady Demons among the better teams in the region with the sixth most wins.

We are starting to play some of the best basketball that I have seen us play since coaching here," said Mason. "The girls are doing an excellent job of executing game plans to a T. Even in the loss to Gallatin I felt like we did a great job of following through with a plan. Offensively we are starting to see girls step up, finish shots, and play within their roles as well."

Williamstown was led offensively by junior guard Katie Cheek, who had one of her best games of the season with 17 points and six rebounds. She hit five-of-six free throw attempts in the game.

Junior Rachel Montgomery was next for the winners with 12 points and 14 rebounds, her second double-double in a week. She hit a pair or 3-pointers.

Sophomore point guard Michaela Kennedy also had 12 points for the Lady Demons, hitting 50 percent of her shots from the field against a tough Bracken Co. defense.

Eighth-grader Kiki Johnson continued to emerge as a force for Williamstown with eight points and eight rebounds. Olivia Sounder muscled her way to three points and nine rebounds.

Williamstown will be back in action on Thursday at Walton-Verona and again on Friday at home versus Owen Co. Friday's game is the nightcap of a boys-girls double header and starts at 8 p.m.