Lady Hawks defeat Blackburn in Holiday Classic

LaRue County’s Lady Hawks put on runs of 6-2 and 9-2 in the second quarter to pull away from a pesky Blackburn team from Australia 56-33 in the first round of the Holiday Classic at Campbellsville High over the weekend.

Richard RoBards

Lady Hawk Tai Phillips looked to pass in the team's defeat of the Australian traveling team in the Holiday Classic at Campbellsville University.

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Valerie Whitlock hit two three-pointers in the third frame and cemented a solid 46-24 lead.

“I knew we’d be a bit sluggish,” said LaRue Coach Travis Wootton. “We haven’t played in a week.”

But Wootton was pleased with his team’s domination in the third quarter.

Lyndsay Whitlock led all scorers with 19 points. She got double-figure support from her twin sister, Valerie. The Whitlock girls also helped the Lady Hawks build a 38-31 margin on the boards as the pair combined for 14 rebounds.

Nancy Howell chipped in with nine points and three boards.

“We have to do a better job, especially on defense,” Wootton said. “We hang our hats on our defense and we create a lot of our offense with it.”

LaRue forced 17 turnovers that led to 21 points.

The Lady Hawks shot 44.7 percent for the game, and after misfiring on three shots from behind the arc in the first half, ended up 4-9 for the game.

LaRue scoring: L. Whitlock 19, N. Howell 9, V. Whitlock 15, A, Clairmont 2, A. Bowling 1, A. Miller 3, I. Bowling 4, T. Phillips 3.

Ladies drop second game in tournament

The Lady Hawks couldn’t stand prosperity and let a 10-point first-half lead evaporate while losing 58-50 in the semifinals of the Coca-Cola/Campbellsville University Holiday Classic at Campbellsville High Monday night.

LaRue County (5-3) played Taylor County in the third-place game at 4:00 Tuesday, after press deadline.

The Lady Hawks used an 11-0 run three minutes into the second quarter in building a 20-10 lead, highlighted by Nancy Howell’s three-pointer at the five-minute mark.

But Clinton chipped away, closing to within 25-18 at intermission.

In the third quarter, Clinton closed to within six at 33-27 and inched even closer at 33-30 until Anna Bowling hit two free throws with 30 seconds to play in the third and a five-point (35-30) third-frame lead.

But Clinton’s Brooke Boils and Brittany Flowers canned consecutive threes to boost the Lady Bulldogs to their first lead at the start of the fourth. LaRue led again at 37-36 and 40-38 before losing the lead for good at 41-40.

From that point on Clinton scored 14 of its next 17 points from the free throw line.

LaRue, which was led in scoring by Valerie Whitlock’s 19 points, could manage to connect on only nine of its 19 charity tosses while Clinton hit 25 of its 36 free throws. The Lady Hawks were led in rebounding by Lyndsay Whitlock’s six boards.

Scoring: V. Whitlock 9, Lyndsay Whitlock 8, Nancy Howell 8, Anna Bowling 5, Shana Zajdel 6, Ivy Bowling 2, Tai Phillips 2.

The Lady Hawks played again Tuesday, after press deadline.