MOREHEAD — Thursday’s girls 16th Region semifinal between Elliott County and Boyd County was also a Ferguson Festival.
Shae Ferguson’s 30 points and cousin Kelsey Ferguson’s 23 led the Lady Lions to a 75-61 win at Morehead State University’s Ellis T. Johnson Arena.
Elliott County’s reward: Defending champion Rowan County at 7 p.m. tonight. The Lady Vikings eliminated Ashland, 59-38.
To Shae, Thursday was the result of all those years of schoolyard hoops.
“We’ve played together since elementary (school),” Shae said. “So we pretty much know each other.”
The Fergusons’ scoring was impressive, but it wasn’t all they did. Shae added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Kelsey had eight rebounds six assists and six steals.
There could be cause for concern, however, because of Shae’s left leg. She aggravated a pulled hamstring she suffered in Tuesday’s first round win over Fleming County, and limped out of the locker room on Thursday night.
“I had a trainer stretch it for me really good, and just got really bad toward the end of the game,” Shae said. “I could feel it just pulling, and it just got to the point where I could hardly stand to walk on it.
“I’m going to tough it out like I always have with injuries.”
The Fergusons almost eclipsed senior Lakin Griffith’s line: 17 points, 22 rebounds, seven blocked shots, an assist and two steals. Her rebounds were the third highest single-game total in regional tournament history (Boyd County’s Angie Meenach had 24 in 1978, and Rowan County’s Mary Johnson grabbed 23 in 1975).
It may be a cliché to say Elliott County dominated both ends of the floor in the first six minutes, but that’s what happened. Kelsey Ferguson scored eight points to go with Shae’s three points and Griffith’s four.
Kelsey Ferguson connected in a variety of ways: 4-of-4 from the free throw line, a fast break lay-up and a conversion of Shae Ferguson’s assist.
The result: a 15-0 lead, and Boyd County coach Pete Fraley wondered if his team would ever score.
“I don’t know what was going on,” Fraley said. “We had some shots, they just wouldn’t go in.”
By halftime, Elliott County owned a 32-17 lead.
It was a good thing Elliott County had its early shutout because the rest of the first half was a 17-17 tie. Elliott County opened the second quarter with an 8-4 run in less than two minutes, but Boyd County countered with a 7-4 streak over the final 2:50.
“We got a little complacent after a while,” Elliott County coach Mark Cantrell said. “It’s part of being up 15-0.”
Boyd County had one last run late in the game. Rainey Mosley hit a 3-pointer with 4:33 to go and closed to 52-46.
Mosley led her team with 18 points.
Rowan County easily beat Elliott County, 74-55, on Jan. 8. Kelsey Ferguson can’t wait for the rematch.
“It was the beginning of the season, we were trying out a few things, and we weren’t really ready for them,” she said. “But now we’re ready, and we’re going to bring all we have.”
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