Paintsville knocks off Johnson Central in 57th District Tournament
(Featured Image) Paintsville’s Emilea Preece shows off her Paintsville Tigers jersey after the Lady Tigers knocked off Johnson Central 44-41 in the opening round of the 57th District Tournament. (Paintsville Herald photo by Mike Muncy)
Post written by Mike Muncy Sports Writer
This game is what postseason basketball is all about.
Both teams left everything on the court with their seasons on the line.
Despite beating Paintsville twice in the regular season, it was Paintsville getting its revenge and ending the Lady Golden Eagles season in the opening round of the district tournament. The Lady Tigers defeated Johnson Central with a final score of 44-41.
The Lady Tigers just had to make their free throws, with six trips to the charity stripe in the fourth quarter locking it up for Paintsville.
Kylie Kinner came alive in the fourth quarter, hauling in nine points in the final frame – seven of which were free-throws.
The eighth-grader’s toughness and athletic ability was on full display at the 2:57 mark when she went up for a shot, missed, grabbed her own rebound and made the shot only to get fouled again to make the plus one, forcing a Johnson Central timeout and giving the Lady Tigers a 38-34 lead.
With the win, Paintsville advances to the 57th District championship game Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. as the Lady Tigers will host Martin County. The win also means that Paintsville secures a spot in the 15th Region Tournament next week at the Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville.
(Paintsville Herald photo by Mike Muncy)
Johnson Central finished the season with a 21-7 record in Coach Jim Hicks’ first year as Lady Golden Eagles’ head coach.
Johnson Central nabbed the first points of the game with Becca Wright finishing off a drive with a layup.
The Lady Tigers quickly went to work, forcing a turnover and pulling ahead 4-2. The Lady Golden Eagles pushed back, and at the end of the first quarter it was tied up at 6-6.
Kayllyn Vannoy made her presence felt in the second quarter in an emotional game for as she spent the first part of her career at Johnson Central.
The Johnson Central transfer (Vannoy) was integral for the Lady Tigers when she hit back-to-back treys and forced a turnover to catapult her team ahead, 12-6 just a minute into the second quarter.
A trey by Kaylyn McKenzie later in the frame allowed Johnson Central to get back within one, but Paintsville maintained the advantage and finished the half with a 17-13 lead.
Momentum looked to swing back in favor of the Lady Golden Eagles at the five minute mark of the third quarter when Taylor McKenzie went for a contested layup and got the foul. She nailed the plus one to give Johnson Central its first lead since the start of the game, now 22-19 and forcing Les Trimble to call a time out.
That lead was short lived however when Kali Mulcahy stole the lead back on a trey to make it 25-22 at the 2:45 mark of the third quarter.
At the end of three, it was Paintsville holding a slim 29-27 lead.
Sophie Younce tied things up for Johnson Central to start the fourth quarter at 29 all-around.
The two teams battled it out throughout the first half of the last quarter until Kinner’s three-point play took the one point advantage to a four point lead.
Kinner scored the next point as well, stretching the lead to five when she knocked down the first of two free-throws.
At the 1:45 mark Kinner was able to extend her teams lead when she knocked down both free-throws. That elevated the Lady Tigers to a 41-35 lead.
Johnson Central and Coach Jim Hicks gave a valiant effort, closing the gap to just two points with 30 seconds left in the game. With the ball in possession of the Lady Tigers however, they simply ran out of time to steal the win.
