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LADY LAKERS UPSET MARSHALS IN DOUBLE OVERTIME – 2007

Lady Lakers pull upset in double OT thriller over Marshall to advance to state (KASPA GIRLS* SWEET SIXTEEN March 14-17 at Diddle Arena, Bowling Green. WEDNESDAY Iroquois vs. Breathitt County, noon Clay County vs. North Hardin, 1:30 p.m. Muhlenberg North vs. Barren County, 6:30 p.m. Wayne County vs. Assumption, 8 p.m. THURSDAY Rose Hill Christian vs. Pike County Central, noon Shelby County vs. Notre Dame, 1:30 p.m. Lexington Christian vs. Henderson County, 6:30 p.m. nine seasons as Calloway's head coach. the skills Cunningham, of a wing player, was at her a 6-foot-2. forward with best when her team needed her most, after three teammates point guard Beth Ross and fellow 6-footers Rachel Adams and Avree Fields - had fouled out of the game. She was 16-for-18 from the free throw line, including a perfect 8-for-8 in over- FIRST REGION GIRLS By Joey Fosko The Paducah Sun jfosko@paducahsun.com MURRAY, Ky. - One by one, the contenders to the First Region throne were cast aside, and in handsome style, too. First it was Graves County, then Paducah Tilghman. Both times, Calloway County's collection of precocious youngsters did it with fourth-quarter rallies, giving it the aura of a team of destiny. In Saturday night's First Region championship game, the Lady Lakers topped themselves, rallying from another doubledigit deficit and knocking off longtime nemesis Marshall County 64-63 in double overtime at Murray State University's Regional Special Events Center. Sophomore Kayla Cunningham turned in a command performance, taking over a team besieged by foul problems and scoring 16 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and the two extra periods - all while playing with four fouls of her own - to lead Calloway to the state tournament. The Lady Lakers (22-12) will meet 10th Region champion Montgomery County on Thursday night at 8 p.m. (CDT) at Western Kentucky University's Diddle Arena, the fourth Sweet 16 appearance in school history and the second in 1 Scott Sivills' Calloway County vs. Montgomery County, 8 p.m. FRIDAY Quarterfinals begin at noon. SATURDAY Semifinals start at 10 a.m, championship at 8 p.m. All First Region Team MVP: Kayla Cunningham (Calloway County) Rex Alexander Award: Alysha Legate (Graves County) All-Tournament Team: Jessica Doran (Graves County), Beth Ross (Calloway County), Kayla Cunningham (Calloway County), Rachel Adams (Calloway County), 5 Sharika Smith (Fulton County), Natalie Shumpert (Paducah Tilghman), Jarobia Hill (Paducah Tilghman), Jessica Holder (Marshall County), Pressley Doom (Marshall County), Alyssa Doom (Marshall County). time. Cunningham drove through the heart of the Marshall defense for a gametying basket with eight seconds left in the first extra period, then faked left and spun right for a jumper over Marshall star Jessica Holder (20 points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots) to give Calloway the lead for good at 56-55 with 3:26 remaining in the second overtime. Please see CUNNINGHAM / 6B
Cunningham leads Calloway with 26 Continued from 1B On the next trip, she did one better, driving down the baseline and drawing Holder's fifth foul, then hit both foul shots to extend the lead to three. Cunningham also picked her spots on the defensive end, blocking a couple of shots while being careful not to put herself in position to pick up a fifth foul. She also finished with seven rebounds and five blocked shots. "I only went for the ones I knew I could get and avoid contact," Cunningham said. "I had to play it safe." Ross' departure also meant the reins of the offense were turned over to junior Samantha Butts, who hit two game-tying free throws with 41 seconds left in regulation, then made a huge baseline jumper off a feed from Cunningham that gave the Lady Lakers a five-point lead with barely a minute remaining in overtime. "(Sivills) told me to run the point and take care of the ball," Butts said, "and if we couldn't get the ball to Kayla, to just keep running the offense. "And he told us to play smart and keep believing that we would win it." Butts had a hand in it, even when it looked bleak after Ross fouled out with 1:41 remaining. Pressley Doom (12 points, eight rebounds and six assists) hit two free throws to put Marshall up 46-41, and Butts took over at the controls. She dribbled around a screen, couldn't find an opening to take the ball to the basket and pitched to teammate Shelby Webb in the corner. Webb, who hadn't scored a point, drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. Marshall reserve Ashley Smith hit one of two from the line to make it 47-44, but Butts hit three out of four free throws in the final minute to force the overtime. "Sam and I have had a lot of talks over the last two years about her role in the offense," Sivills said. "She can score and handle the ball and create, but she needs to do it by letting the game come to her." The Lady Lakers weren't perfect down the stretch, but their execution was generally better than that of Marshall, whose offense looked woefully out of synch after point guard Jordan Gilland fouled out early in the first overtime. Marshall (24-4), which had beaten Calloway in each of their three previous meetings, bad already lost forward Alyssa Doom to fouls. "That's what happens when LANCE DENNEE/The Sun Calling for it: Marshall County's Alyssa Doom (left) signals for the ball under pressure by Calloway County's Rachel Adams (right) during the first quarter of the First Region championship at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray. you lose your seniors," Marshall coach Howard Beth said. "We had. some players out there who hadn't been in that situation before, and we missed that experience on the floor." Still, Marshall nearly managed a miracle. Pressley. Doom hit two free throws to cut the lead to 64-61 with 42 seconds left. Calloway's Karra Jones tried to make a difficult inbounds pass to Cunningham, and the ball was popped loose. Kayci Beasley (16 points) grabbed an offensive rebound, turned back toward the basket and hit a 12-footer to make it 64-63. Marshall's defense forced a turnover when Jones, trapped in the corner, attempted a crosscourt pass that was picked off by eighth grader Margaret Thomas with eight seconds left. Thomas dribbled the length of the floor and pulled up for a 12-foot jumper that went off the back of the rim at the horn. The win capped a storybook week for the Lady Lakers, who rallied from second-half deficits in all three wins, beating teams against which they were a combined 0-6. And they had saddled themselves with a tough draw after a miserable performance against Marshall in the Fourth District final. "It didn't happen for us in the regular season," Cunningham said, "but we won the games that counted the most." Calloway Co. (22-12) 7 21 27 47 54 64 Marshall Co. (24-4) 16 31 38 47 54 63 CALLOWAY COUNTY Webb 3, Cunningham 26, Adams 7, Butts 12, Ross 6, Fields 10. K. Jones, W. Jones, Seavers. Field goals 17/49. 3-pointers 1/7 (Webb). Free throws 29/37. Rebounds 44. Fouls 27. MARSHALL COUNTY - P. Doom 12, A. Doom 5, Holder 20, Beasley 16, Gilland 4, Smith 6, Leonard, Thomas, Ellis. Field goals 18/49. 3-pointers 3/12 (Beasley 2, P. Doom). Free throws 24/38. Rebounds 35. Fouls 28.

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