LANCASTER — Friday’s game looked like neither team had played basketball in a week.

That was the case for both teams, with both teams not playing since Jan. 9.

Boyle County was the one to shake off the rust best, toppling Garrard 58-47. McKayla Baker led all scorers with 18 points as the Rebels improved to 3-0 in district play.

Baker scored all 11 points for the Rebels in the first quarter, and a slow second quarter finished with the two teams tied at 18.

But in the third quarter, Boyle broke loose. The Rebels scored 26 points to take a 44-30 lead into the final eight minutes.

“We just talked about making sure that we did the things that we’ve done all year, that’s relax and move the ball,” Boyle head coach Greg Edwards said of his halftime team talk. “Any time you get this much time away from the gym, we haven’t done anything in four days. I thought it showed out there, we had a lot of rust.”

Edwards noted several players who were limited due to illness and said his bench was again key in securing the victory.

“We struggled, but the good thing is that we struggled and we were still able to win,” Edwards said. “We have faith in our bench and our bench has come through a lot this year. We tell them, ‘you’ve got to be ready whenever you’re called on.’ We expect them to come in and do some things for us. I thought for the most part, we did that.”

Garrard head coach Scott Latham said that his team froze in the third quarter when Boyle shifted to a three-quarter-court press.

“We just went panic mode in the third quarter,” Latham said. “We won the fourth quarter, played well in the first half. But you can’t dig yourself a hole in the third quarter. And we started the game slow and had to battle back.”

The Golden Lions took those Boyle punches — first in the first quarter, when Baker scored eight unanswered points to start the game, and in the third quarter — and responded each time, something that Latham was proud to see.

“They do, they respond. And you can see it on their faces, it’s something different and they panic,” Latham said. “So whatever that is, we have to figure out what it is that makes them jump to panic mode and turn the ball over. They’re like robots, you can tell exactly what they’re going to do when they catch the ball. They’ve just got to get comfortable with pressure, because they’re going to see pressure the rest of the year.

“But the effort and fight we showed in the fourth quarter, I’m pleased with that effort. I hate to lose, just like everybody else does. But we could’ve quit, got beat by 30. But this group has fight, they’re not going to quit on you. They’re still young, they’re still learning. We’ve just got to fix that third quarter.”

Latham noted that usual starter Brittany Butner was limited due to illness, but Katy Pozzuto stepped up on offense.

“Brittney is sick, but Katy played a really good game offensively,” Latham said. “She’s still got work to do on the defensive boards, that’s just getting low, finding someone to block out. But she really stood out to me tonight. And overall, I thought Fran (Montgomery) played really good tonight. She took care of the ball, she passed the ball. She was much better composed this time compared to the last time we played them.”

Boyle moves to 14-3 and 3-0 in district play. With rough weather in the past, Edwards said he’s looking forward to getting time in the gym.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” he said. “We’re 14-3, we’ve had a really good year to this point, but we’re not done. Hopefully we can keep getting better. It’s crazy this time of year because you lose games, we’re going to make-up the Lincoln game on a weird day, but it’s just a lot of craziness. We’ve just got to be focused and fight through that.”

Latham said he won’t knock his team’s fight but said they need to find a way to play for a full 32 minutes.

“We’ve got to find that composure and mentality that we’re going to play for four solid quarters, especially against good teams that can score,” he said.

 

At Garrard County

 

BC 11 7 26 14 — 58

GC 10 8 12 17 — 47

 

Points

BOYLE — McKayla Baker 18, Gracie Edmiston 15, Rachel Leath 9, Danielle Roney 8, Emily Glasscock 3, Keely Bowling 3, Kasey McGirr 2.

GARRARD — Madison Neeley 11, Katy Pozzuto 10, Fran Montgomery 10, Olivia Saylor 8, Ashlynn Clark 6, Morgan Day 2.