The last time the Bowling Green Lady Purples took to the court they picked up a big home-court win over the defending 5th Region champion Bethlehem. Just hours later, their hometown was blasted by a devastating tornado that claimed at least 15 lives and left a large part of the city in ruins.
Tuesday night, the Lady Purples got the chance to set all of that aside for a little while, getting away from cleanup efforts and power restoration efforts, as they traveled to Hopkinsville to take on the Christian County Lady Colonels in an inter-region battle.
The getting on the court appeared to be just what the Lady Purples needed as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back on their way to a 66-33 win over the Lady Colonels.
Behind the play of Tanaya Bailey, Meadow Tisdale, and Saniyah Shelton, Bowling Green got rolling quickly on both ends of the court. The Lady Purples had success attacking the Christian County defense and finding scoring opportunities, while on the other end, the Lady Purples full court pressure defense resulted in early turnovers for the Lady Colonels.
Christian County made an early move to get back in the game. Trailing 11-0, Mikayah Killebrew and NeVaeh Day ignited a quick 6-0 run that cut the lead to five.
However, Bowling Green would finishe the first quarter on a 14-4 run to extend the lead back out to 25-10 by the end of the quarter.
The Lady Purples then opened the second quarter on an 8-1 blitz to move out to a 33-11 lead midway through the quarter. Bowling Green would then take a 37-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
Meadow Tisdale took things over coming out of the locker room for the Lady Purples. Tisdale scored four quick points, pulled down three rebounds, and garnered an assist in the early moments of the second half. It would have been an even bigger stretch for her had she not missed four straight free throws.
Tisdale’s effort, combined with back-to-back threes from Ava Bennett would blow the lead out to 52-20 with 2:48 to go in the third quarter. The lead would be at 54-26 when the quarter came to an end.
Bowling Green would extend the lead out to 61-26 early in the final quarter to bring the running clock into play as they cruised on out to the 33 point win. Lady Purple reserves saw much of the action over the final six minutes of the contest.
The Lady Colonel press, which often gives opponents massive headaches, seemed to have little impact on a Bowling Green team with steady ballhandlers. In fact, the Lady Purples, often times seemed to enjoy the increase in tempo.
Mikayah Killebrew led the way for Christian County with 9 points. NeVaeh Day added seven for the Lady Colonels.
Bowling Green’s Tanaya Bailey led all scorers in the game with 15 points. Meadow Tisdale chipped in with 14. LynKaylah James also reached double figures with 11 for the Lady Purples.
With the loss, Christian County drops to 2-4 on the season. Bowling Green improves to 3-1.
The Lady Colonels get back to action Friday night as they travel to University Heights for an 8th District matchup.
BGHS — 25 12 17 12 – 66
CCHS — 10 8 8 7 – 33
Bowling Green (3-1) – Bailey 15, Tisdale 14, James 11, Bennett 8, Campbell 6, Shelton 6, Franklin 4, Lightning 2
Christian County (2-4) – Killebrew 9, Day 7, Bridges 5, Bagwell 4, Northington 2, Catlett-Watkins 2, McGregor 2, Harris 2
