Rachel Satterly (10) had eight points for Anderson County in its easy win over Franklin County. (Brendon Miller/KHSAA Photo)
Anderson County coach Clay Birdwhistell knows his team faces a difficult state tournament semifinal matchup with Sacred Heart Saturday morning but his Bearcats certainly had no trouble getting to that game. Anderson blasted Franklin County 53-35 Friday afternoon to improve to 27-2 going into the semifinals against Sacred Heart, a team it beat 69-68 on Feb. 20.
“Sacred Heart is not as athletic (as Franklin County) but they shoot better,” the Anderson coach said. “We will have to play really well to beat them.”
That’s something Anderson almost always does and certainly did Friday.
Junior Paige Serafine came off the bench to score 14 points — she had three 3-pointers in the second quarter — while seniors Sophie Smith, Rachel Satterly, and Tiffani Riley all had eight points.
“You never know when it will be a good shooting day but warming up I felt pretty good,” Serafine said. “We have put in a lot of work to get here. The thought of going to the Final Four is an amazing feeling.”
Anderson was 10-for-19 from 3-point range and forced 19 turnovers. Franklin did not have a point in the second quarter when Anderson broke the game open.
Franklin coach Joey Thacker explained what makes Anderson so good.
“I just think there is no substitute for length. Even their short guards are long,” Thacker said. “They have put in the time to really improve. They are much better team than they were a year ago. Their kids all more multifaceted than a year ago. They all six can score and all six can get double figures on you.”
Anderson’s passing — Riley had five assists and Smith four — is always crisp and the defense can be suffocating.
“All the kids love each other and fight for each other. You make a mistake, they are there to build you up and not tear you down,” the Anderson coach said. “We are trying to make sure teammates look good on both sides of the ball. You can scheme all you want but if they don’t buy in it does not matter.”
Riley, who had two 3-pointers, said the Bearcats take pride in their shooting.
“We work on our shooting every day in practice. All you have to do is keep working at it,” she said.
