At the press conference following Bethlehem’s first-ever state tournament win Thursday, coach Jason Clark said of second-round opponent Marshall County, who the Banshees had beaten during the first week of the regular season, “I’m sure they’ve gotten better since then.”
Clark turned out to be prophetic. Much like Bethlehem had done in pushing all the right buttons down the stretch to get past first-round opponent Bullitt East on Thursday, Marshall County had all the right combinations in the fourth quarter Friday to avenge that early-season loss and end the Banshees’ season in the KHSAA Sweet 16 quarterfinals, 58-51.
“Everybody wants to make it to Saturday in the state tournament, but hats off to them,” Clark said. “They made more baskets than we did.”
Specifically, 1st Region Player of the Year and Miss Basketball candidate Cayson Conner did. Conner scored 12 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back baskets and two critical steals in the final 1:29 to erase a 47-44 Bethlehem lead and keying a game-closing 14-4 run with 10 points late.
“We just maintained great poise,” Marshall County coach Aaron Beth said. “We’ve been in these situations where we’ve played tough teams all year. You hear coaches all the time, ‘You’ve got to play a tough schedule.’ … I think this year we’re a prime example of that.”
The loss was tough to bear for Clark, especially with the knowledge that Friday was the last game where he got to coach standout seniors Ella Thompson and Amelia Hodges, who have been instrumental in taking the Bethlehem program to heights never before reached in history.
“Words can’t describe how much they mean to me,” Clark said. “They’ve won 90-some games in the three years I’ve been blessed to coach them. Two straight (All A Classic) championships. Three straight district championships. Two 5th Region championships, and a region final mixed into that, and now an Elite 8 performance at the state tournament, coming from a school that has only 250 kids. It shows how special these two are.”
Bethlehem (26-5) got off to a solid start in the matchup between Top-10 teams Friday, leading Marshall County (24-2) by four after the first quarter and by a bucket at halftime, 28-26, with Hodges scoring 10 of her 12 points before intermission.
Things fell apart for Bethlehem after halftime, however. The Banshees hit just 3-of-17 from the field in the third period — including nine straight to start the quarter — many of them point-blank looks at the basket inside the paint. The fourth quarter got only marginally better, as they hit on 6-of-17, but Bethlehem was unable to make headway late as Marshall County was 18-of-22 overall from the free throw line, and made all 10 of its attempts in the final period.
“We just couldn’t get the ball to go in the hoop there sometimes,” Clark said. “In the third quarter, we struggled putting the ball in the hoop.”
The Banshees seemed ready to break out of their funk early in the fourth. Hodges fed Thompson for a three-pointer a minute in, then, after an Emma Filiatreau blocked shot at the other end, Hodges fed Thompson for a fast-break layup to put Bethlehem up 40-37 with 6:22 left.
Carlie Thurmond hit a three off a Hodges assist with 2:46 left to put Bethlehem back up by three at 45-42, but Conner quickly answered. Thompson’s jumper in the paint again put Bethlehem up by three at 47-44 with two minutes remaining, but Conner got two quick buckets to give the Marshals the lead for good. The Banshees scored just one more field goal the rest of the way.
It was a tough pill to swallow, especially after Bethlehem had been so clutch late in its first-round win.
“We always played hard and we always left it all out there,” Hodges said. “I’m really proud of everybody.”
Hodges ended up with 12 points and three assists, while Thompson had a team-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“I’m really proud of my team and all that we accomplished,” Thompson said. “Definitely isn’t the ending we wanted. I think we played hard and left it all out there (on the floor). We just came up short.”
Xavi Smalley had four points and a game-high 13 rebounds, helping the Banshees to a 38-28 advantage on the glass. But the anemic shooting, especially in the second half, was too much to overcome.
Marshall County’s Halle Langhi had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and was 8-for-10 at the free throw line.
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