By AARON SNYDER / The Independent
BOWLING GREEN — Three truly is the lucky number for the 2010 Rowan County Lady Vikings.
After pulling off the first girls' 16th Region three-peat in school history, the Lady Vikings used the 3-pointer to become the second team in school history to advance to the state tournament semifinals.
Rowan County will try for another No. 3 today at 11 a.m. (est) at E.A. Diddle Arena — win No. 3 in the state tournament.
“This bunch plays so hard,” said Rowan County coach Scott Tackett. “I'm not sure they're aware of the magnitude of the moment they're in. This is the most relaxed, loose group that I've brought down here.”
The tallest task yet awaits in the form of Louisville Mercy, a balanced team that likes to run at a frenetic pace.
“I said early on that, after Mercy beat Marion County (in the opening round), that's probably the team that's gonna win the whole thing. I don't think that anymore,” Tackett said with a chuckle.
“They're athletic and they're going to get after us (today),” he added.
Louisville Mercy (25-8) routed Marion County 67-51 and then handed Henderson County a 71-57 defeat to reach the semifinals.
The Lady Jaguars use a run-and-gun style along with offensive balance. Their leading scorer is Juliann Miller, who scores 13.1 points per game and is the only player to average double figures. Four other Mercy players score at least six points per contest.
For Tackett and Rowan County, the plan remains the same. The Lady Vikings will try to keep rolling with team defense and forcing players to make jump shots.
“We want to make kids knock down shots,” Tackett said. “I'm sure (Mercy) is licking their chops, but we'll come out and get after them.”
Rowan County has allowed 39 and 31 points in the first two rounds of the tournament.
“We're going to get our rest, rehydrate,” Tackett said. “We just got to tip it up and go play.”
AARON SNYDER can be reached at asnyder@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.
