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FULTON CO. GIRLS WIN REGION – 1998 PAGE 1

Smith's lea leadership directs Lady Pilots to state •Fulton County beats Marshall County in First Region girls' final. BY JOEY FOSKO THE PADUCAH SUN MURRAY, Ky. - Those who don't know any better might label Taira Smith's senior season a disappointment. It's a good bet she doesn't agree. Smith, The Paducah Sun's Purchase Player of the e Year as a junior, has battled a nagging knee injury that has cut into her mobility and production. But Smith, whose 15-point, 13-rebound performance led Fulton County to a 56-52 upset of Marshall County in Saturday night's First Region championship game at Murray State University's Racer Arena, was a star once again on the area's biggest stage. "She was in charge of the basketball game," said Marshall coach Howard Beth. 'Every time she caught the ball on the floor, she was never excited. She never once looked like all she wanted to do was get rid of the ball - she was never out of control. "That's a senior, and that's experience. She's been through this before. She's been to the state tournament, she's the maturity they needed on the floor." Smith also paid off some more tangible dividends. Early in the second half, she surprised the Lady Marshals with a pair of 3-pointers, helping Fulton County (25-6) build a 16-point third-quarter lead. She drew the fifth foul on Leah Lineberry, Marshall's leading scorer, taking a charge early in the fourth quarter. With the Lady Pilots spinning their wheels in their delay game, committing 10 of their 19 turnovers in the fourth quarter, it was Smith who took some of the ballhandling load off her rather inexperienced guards and bought enough time to hold on. When Marshall (28-3) missed a couple of shots down the stretch, Smith was in position for both rebounds. She also made two critical free throws with 27.9 seconds left, providing what proved to be the winning points and punching Fulton County's ticket to the state MARSHALL COUNTY (28-3) . . . . . . . . . : .13 21 37 52 FULTON COUNTY (25-6).. . . . . . . . . ..20 33 46 56 . MARSHALL COUNTY - Ethridge 6, Kingston 6, Lineberry 8, Gardner 19, Stone, Larkin 8, Hall 4, Harper, Walker, Adair 1. Field goals 21/49. 3-pointers 0/9. Free throws 10 10/17. Fouls 27. FULTON COUNTY - Wilson 6, Dean 12, T. Smith 15, Crumble 4, A. Smith 13, Turner 6, Lane. Field goals 15/31. 3-pointers 2/2 (T. Smith 2), Free throws 24/36. Fouls 15. tournament. "You can't teach a player to play smart," said Fulton County coach Joel Dreher, who has led his program to two regional titles in the past three seasons. "We got really tired in the fourth quarter, and when we get tired we make a lot of mental. mistakes. She held us together when it looked like we were coming apart.' The Lady Pilots will meet 12th Region champion Somerset in next week's Sweet 16 at Eastern Kentucky University's McBrayer Arena. Somerset earned its berth Fulton Co. 56, Marshall 52 with a 58-49 victory over Boyle County. Smith will close out her stellar career with a second Sweet 16. She was a key player on Fulton County's state quarterfinalists two years ago, and she's also played in a pair of All A Classic state tournaments. "This year's been kind of tough," Smith said. "When I hurt my knee, I lost a lot of my quickness and a lot of my moves in the post, but after a while I just stopped worrying about it and kept playing. After a while it didn't bother me very much.' That was about the time the Lady Pilots went on a roll. Fulton County closed out the season with a flourish, beating defending regional champion Murray by 23 points, then beating archival Fulton City for the third time this season in the First District final. Murray fell again in the regional opener, this time by 17 points, and Fulton County struggled at times in a semifinal win over Graves County. Please see FULTON COUNTY / 2B

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