Cinderella Mercer County never quit believing and now is headed to state tourney

Mercer County players, coaches, cheerleaders and fans celebrate Sunday's win. (Larry Vaught Photo)

There are always some terrific storylines for the state basketball tournament but there is not a better Cinderella story than the Mercer County Titans.

Mercer outlasted Danville 63-59 in overtime in the 12th Region championship game Sunday at Pulaski County. The Titans looked like they had the game won in regulation but Danville senior Love Mays hit an unbelievable contested 3-point shot from the corner at the buzzer to tie the game 55-55.

The Titans were down 59-58 late in overtime when junior guard Anna Drakeford made a steal, drove the length of the court and finished at the rim to put the Titans ahead to stay.

Not only did this avenge a 49-48 loss to Danville on Dec. 13, but it wiped out memories of 12th Region championship game losses to Southwestern the last two years.

If that’s not enough, Mercer County senior Timberline Yeast, a Buffalo signee, went down with a season-ending knee injury during practice before the season started. Not only was Yeast one of the best players in the region, but she was one of the best in the state and a Miss Basketball candidate.

Yet somehow here was Mercer beating Danville, a team that had lost only two games all season. The Ads won 19 straight after a season-opening loss to Pulaski County and then were riding an 11-game win streak after falling to Pikeville in the All “A” Classic, However, Mercer knocked off the 30-game winner.

Drakeford, a gutty guard, had 22 points to lead the Titans to a berth in Rupp Arena. Freshman Teigh Yeast was money at the foul line in overtime — and was playing in her third regional title game — and had 20 points despite sitting out most of the first half with two fouls. Centre College commit Lindsey Jessie was named the game’s most valuable player for her scoring inside, especially in the second quarter, and finished with 16 points. She also had the game-winning back  against Southwestern in the semifinals.

Mercer will take an eight-game win streak into Wednesday’s game against George Rogers Clark at the state. Mercer lost 54-48 to GRC on Feb. 3 and then 64-49 to North Laurel, the 13th Region champion, on Feb. 6. Since then coach Hayley Spivey’s team has defeated all the best teams in the 12th Region.

Spivey never let her team believe it could not win the region. The Titans probably were the fourth pick in the region behind Danville, Pulaski and Southwestern.

But a team that refused to give up after its star player went down before the season started cut down the next Sunday and now gets that dream trip to Rupp Arena.