WINCHESTER, Ky. – Marie Kiefer gets most of the attention from opposing defenses for the Bishop Brossart girls basketball team.
Her fellow starters have been in top form down the stretch this season. And the Mustangs needed all of them to deliver an accomplishment not seen since before they were born.
Bishop Brossart beat Montgomery County 61-47 to win the KHSAA 10th Region championship Tuesday at Cardinal Arena at George Rogers Clark High School.
Brossart, 21-5 overall, won its second regional championship and first since eventual Miss Basketball Katie Schwegmann and the Mustangs won the 10th Region in 2001. Montgomery finished 15-6.
Brossart became the second school in Campbell County in the past week to break a 20-year title drought since their 2001 basketball odyssey led them to the state tournament. They joined the Highlands boys basketball team, who won the Ninth Region.
Brossart players celebrated with family members and a few dozen Brossart students, who were able to attend a game for the first time this year because of the pandemic.
“I’m so excited,” said senior guard Jordan Rowe. “It’s been a goal of ours for so long. I’m so proud of this team. It means a lot. The school support is always behind us so it’s great to bring this back to the community. It’s so nice because this year we haven’t had a student section and it’s cool to have a big game and have the crowd behind us.”
Brossart will face Bowling Green in the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.
“I’m really excited,” said junior Lauren Macht. “I think we’re going to go to Rupp and win this whole thing. We’re all very well-rounded and we can shoot the ball well. We practice every day. We all work together and we play for each other. I think we’re ready and I think we can take on anybody that’s in front of us.”
Brossart rallied behind Kiefer, a 6-foot-2 center and the 10th Region Player of the Year who has signed with Ball State. She led the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots.
Montgomery’s starting center, Savannah Parker, is strong but doesn’t have the height of Kiefer. And the Indians didn’t have any other post players, so the Indians either played zone defense or kept two or three players around her.
That scheme frequently left one of the Brossart guards open for a jumper. All five starters made a 3-pointer for the Mustangs, including Kiefer, who hit one from the top of the key in the third quarter.
Macht scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Madison Parker scored 10 points with two assists. Senior Rosie Jump had 10 points and four assists, and Rowe had eight points and four assists.
“We hit some big threes in the second half that really loosened us up,” said Brossart head coach Kevin Bundy. “They went into a one-man zone that always left somebody open and we forced them to go into man to man. We’re a tough matchup for them when they have to play us man to man.”
Brossart led 11-4 early on the strength of two consecutive 3-pointers by Macht, who added another basket in the quarter. Kiefer had seven points in the frame and Brossart led 18-13.
Montgomery tied it at 22 on a three-point play by Shaelynn Harris with four minutes left in the quarter. The teams only combined for three points after that, a free throw by Kiefer and a jumper by Macht, and Brossart led 25-22 at the break. Both Kiefer and Macht had 10 points in the half.
MC freshman Hayden Barrier, who was 0-for-10 from the field in Montgomery’s semifinal win over Scott, had 10 points in the half on 5-of-11 shooting.
Brossart shot 35.7 percent in the first half (10-28) and Montgomery outrebounded them by eight. Brossart shot 50 percent in the second half.
Jump and Parker hit 3-pointers early in the second half. Rowe scored a layup. Kiefer hit her 3-pointer and then added a tough layup in traffic to give Brossart its biggest lead at 14, 38-24.
Montgomery closed on a 10-3 run to trail by seven, 41-34, entering the final quarter.
Kiefer hit two free throws to put Brossart back up by eight, 44-36. Jump hit a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs up 12 by 51-39.
The game was mostly a free-throw shooting competition after that.
Brossart limited Montgomery to 33 percent shooting from the field. Guard Allie Dillon, who had 21 points in last night’s semifinal win over Scott, was scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
Brossart only committed four turnovers compared to 13 assists, and forced 15 turnovers against only four assists for the Indians.
Kiefer, Jump, Rowe and Macht were all-tournament picks. The 10th Region doesn’t designate an MVP.
“It was a great win. It took a lot of will. We played our hearts out,” Kiefer said.
Said Bundy: “For the program, it’s a culmination of four years of hard work for these seniors and a lot of buy-in for these younger girls. They played really hard. Our entire community is thrilled for us right now. We’re a small community but we’re a very proud community. This is something our people will be really excited about for a long time.”
BISHOP BROSSART: 18 7 16 20-61
MONTGOMERY CO.: 13 9 12 13-47
BROSSART: Rowe 2 3 8, Jump 4 0 10, Parker 1 7 10, Macht 4 1 11, Kiefer 7 7 22.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY: Williams 1 1 4, Oney 2 6 10, Barrier 5 5 15, Harris 3 5 11, Parker 3 1 7.
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