Playing in the girls’ 4th Region tournament for the first time since 2018, the Todd County Central Lady Rebels decided to one up that Monday night. The Lady Rebels got huge games from Abby Williams and Alexis Taylor and never trailed as they upended 15th District champion Warren East 70-64 to advance to Thursday night’s regional semifinals.
Warren East had entered the tournament with a record of 26-4.
The Lady Rebels built a big early lead and saw that lead reach as many as 25 points in the third quarter before the Lady Raiders nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
The Todd Central defense was in exceptional mode early in the contest. The Lady Rebels held Warren East to just 4 of 12 shooting in the first quarter as the Lady Rebels bolted out to a 19-8 lead. Alexis Taylor was unstoppable in the quarter, putting up nine points as the Lady Rebels got off to the kind of start they needed to knock off the Lady Raiders.
Things got even better for Todd County Central in the second quarter. The offense really got rolling and put up 24 points on the board. Meanwhile, the defense clamped down even more on the Warren East shooters, limiting the Lady Raiders to just 3 of 15 from the field in the second quarter as the Todd Central lead swelled to 43-20.
Taylor continued to put on a show in the second quarter, adding nine more points to her first-half total, giving her 18 for the first 16 minutes of the game. But this game would turn out to be far from over at the break.
The Lady Rebels quickly extended the lead to 25 points in the third quarter, then the wheels came off the wagon. Give the Lady Raiders plenty of credit. Down 25 early in the second half, it would have been easy to toss in the towel. However, they did not.
Sparked by Sam Carver, Kennedy Lawson, and a big defensive effort on Alexis Taylor, the Lady Raiders started working their way back into the game. Lawson scored 8 and Carver scored 5 as Warren East put 23 points on the board in the third. Defensively, Warren East shut out Alexis Taylor in the quarter and allowed only one point to any player not named Abby Williams, as the Lady Raiders charged back to within 54-43. A 10-0 run was a big part of that comeback effort.
The Lady Raider continued the comeback in the final quarter, closing to within 5 points. But there was no denying the Lady Rebels in this one. Abby Williams knocked down 7 of 8 free throws and Alexis Taylor got rolling again and added 7 points as Todd County Central turned back the rally and held on for the six-point win.
Alexis Taylor finished with 25 points to lead the way for Todd County Central. Abby Williams added 24 in another great performance. JaMya Kay just missed double figures with 9.
Rileigh Jones and Rae Jones had 13 points each for Warren East. Sam Carver ended up with 12 points.
Warren East finishes the season at 26-4.
The Lady Rebels improve to 18-12 for the season and advance on to Thursday night’s semifinals where they will face Metcalfe County. The Lady Hornets advanced with a 52-40 win over South Warren.
Todd County Central and Metcalfe County last met on January 16, 2023 with the Lady Rebels coming away with a 67-63 overtime win.
TCCHS — 19 24 11 16 – 70
WEHS — 8 12 23 21 – 64
Todd County Central – Taylor 25, Williams 24, Kay 9, Shemwell 5, Garrett 5, Smith 2
Warren East – Ri.Jones 13, Ra. Jones 13, Carver 12, Jones 10, K. Lawson 8, M. Lawson 4, Collins 4
