Sheldon Clark 55, Caldwell County 41

RICHMOND, Ky. — You name it, Caldwell County's performance in the All A Classic state tournament had a little bit of everything.

It was the kind of checklist the Lady Tigers didn't want.

Turnovers. Missed layups. Bad decisions that led to turnovers, and there was some sloppy defense, too.

Throw in some poor rebounding, which resulted in several second chance baskets for Sheldon Clark, and you have the recipe for a 55-41 drumming of the Lady Tigers in Thursday's first-round action at Eastern Kentucky University's McBrayer Arena.

Sheldon Clark (12-7) will advance to today's quarterfinals against Gallatin County, which defeated Whitefield Academy 50-39.

Because of the inclement weather throughout the state that has made it tough for some of the participating boys' teams to get to Richmond, the tournament schedule was altered so that the girls' quarterfinals and semifinals will be played today. The boys' first-round games, originally scheduled for today, will be played on Thursday.

"We're better than what we showed here," Caldwell coach Stephanie Crick said. "I'm sure some nerves at being in a state tournament, and being in this atmosphere, was probably part of it, for all of us — the players and me, too."

Coincidence or not, Sheldon Clark's 14-point win was set up by a 14-0 run that allowed the Lady Cardinals to take control of the game. Six Caldwell turnovers contributed to the carnage, which Sheldon Clark coach Darrin Rice attributed to his team's 2-2-1 zone press.

"We gave them the same look, but did a lot of different things once they got the ball in," Rice said.

Caldwell coach Stephanie Crick credited the work of guards Carla Booth, Katelyn Newsome and Brittney Marcum, the latter of which had 13 points and three steals off the bench, including two big steals that resulted in baskets in the decisive second-quarter surge.

"The two guards out front really pressured us and forced us into some bad decisions," Crick said. "We've seen it before and handled it a lot better than that before."

Jayme Jackson, Caldwell's point guard and leading scorer, had an especially tough time, going 1-for-9 from the field and committing six first-half turnovers, contributing to the Lady Cardinals' 33-17 halftime advantage.

Caldwell also struggled from the perimeter, missing its first nine shots from 3-point range before Savannah Pepper hit one midway through the fourth period.

"She's normally our 'go' player," Crick said. "She didn't finish on some shots like she normally does, and it just wasn't one of her better games."

Booth, Sheldon Clark's star sophomore point guard, had 18 points, eight rebounds and a couple of assists. She also drew two quick fouls on Pepper, who admitted her "excitement" led her into trying to do a little too much too soon in the early moments of the game.

"We got into some foul trouble," Crick said, "and our help defense wasn't very good."

Pepper led the Lady Tigers with 17 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. Nevertheless, Caldwell (13-4) couldn't cut the deficit below 11 points in the final 16 minutes.


Caldwell County (13-4) ... 11 17 26 41
Sheldon Clark (12-7) ... 12 33 42 55

CALDWELL COUNTY — Peek, Meeks 5, C. Stone 9, Pepper 17, Jackson 6, Newby 2, Sindelar, J. Stone, Ames 2, Harper, Yates, Williams.

Field goals 15/43. 3-pointers 1/10 (Pepper). Free throws 10/14. Rebounds 26. Fouls 16.

SHELDON CLARK — Porter 6, Sumpter 7, Harless 3, Newsome 2, Car. Booth 18, Marcum 13, Jude 4, Burkett, Cas. Booth, B. Hatfield, W. Hatfield, Hammond 2, Evans.

Field goals 21/45. 3-pointers 1/6 (Sumpter). Free throws 12/20. Rebounds 37. Fouls 17.