Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Lady Bears got back in action on Tuesday night after an extended layoff for Christmas break. The Lady Bears traveled to Bowling Green to play in the Greenwood Holiday Classic. Awaiting BCHS was a one-win Warren East High School Lady Raider squad that was hungry to get another win.

The Lady Bears started strong against a team similar in youth and inexperience. Madeline “Mad Dog” Drake knocked down her first two three pointers of the game and the Lady Bears got strong inside efforts from Koshosha Turner and Katie Graham on the defensive end of the floor and was able to lead 13-8 after the first period. Warren East roared back into the game in the second period by putting 5 different players in the scoring column and outscored the Lady Bears 15-9 in the second quarter to take a one point lead to the locker room at halftime, WEHS-23, BCHS-22.

Butler County opened the second half with a renewed defensive effort which led quick turnovers and scoring opportunities for Butler. A WEHS attempt at a press didn’t work as the Lady Bear trio of Drake, Graham, and Shawna West was able to move the ball around the pressure get the ball to the rim. Graham and Drake both had solid quarters on offense from the free throw line. Each girl hit 5 of 6 attempts in the quarter on the way to outscoring the Lady Raiders 13-7 to retake the lead 35-30.

The fourth quarter was all Butler County’s. Drake hit a long three to start the quarter, Katie Graham had 8 points, and Shawna West chipped in four as the Lady Bears outscored WEHS 17-10 in the period to seal the win. The final score was 52-40 BCHS.
Madeline Drake was selected as the Most Outstanding Player in the game by the tournament organizers for her 19 point performance.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)

Graham-17, Drake-19, West-7, Turner-6, Easley-2, Flener-1
 Score by quarter
BCHS        13    9    13    17    52
WEHS         8    15    7    10    40

Still in the winner’s pool the Lady Bears traveled back to Bowling Green on Wednesday night to take on the Lady Wildcats of Franklin-Simpson High School. Franklin-Simpson has been one of the stronger teams in the 4th Region in recent years, but is having a down season so far due to injuries and the transition of young players into key roles.

Unlike Tuesday night when the Lady Bears offense was working and shots were falling Wednesday night saw the Lady Bears struggle to score. The BCHS girls could manage only three baskets in the first period and trailed 16-6 after one. FSHS used their team quickness and a pesky half court trap to force Butler turnovers and harass the shooters. Things didn’t improve on either end of the court for BCHS in the second period and the Lady Bears went into the locker room on the wrong side of a 29-11 score.

In the second half the Lady Bears fared better, but were never able to mount a serious challenge to the Lady Wildcats. BCHS outscored FSHS 8-7 in the third quarter and 7-4 in the fourth, but the FSHS was just too much to overcome and the Lady Bears fell 40-26.

The split of the first two games made the BCHS record 2-6 going into the third round of pool play on Thursday. Franklin-Simpson improved their record to 7-4.

BUTLER COUNTY SCORING (Unofficial)
Graham-8, Drake-6, Turner-5, West-5, Easley-2

Score by quarter
BCHS        6    5    8    7    26
FSHS        16    13    7    4    40