Beech Tree News Network

After a busy weekend of basketball action the Butler County Lady Bears are off to a 4-0 start, are 1-0 in the 12th district, and have a new member in the BCHS 1,000-point club.

On Friday night the Lady Bears traveled to Whitesville, Ky to take on the Lady Raiders of Trinity High School. The game was a matchup of unbeaten teams, and the district opener for both squads.

The Trinity game was never in doubt as the dynamic senior duo of Lynsie Clark and Katie Graham controlled the game early, on their way to a pair of 20-point scoring nights. Behind the 40 points from Clark and Graham the Lady Bears coasted to a 67-28 win.

On Monday night the 4-2 Lady Gators form Greenwood High School traveled to Morgantown to try and put a stop to the Lady Bears' win streak. The Greenwood Girls have handled the Lady Bears easily in their meetings over the last three seasons, including one-sided wins in 2012-13 behind the string play of highly touted center Lauren Maupin.

Before the game BCHS assistant coach Jack Clark said that the key to the Lady Bears beating the Lady Gators would depend on their ability to limit Maupin's output. "We have to hold her to 15 or less. If we do we will win this game," said Clark.

After the game was tied early at 4-4 the Lady Bears opened up a 10-7 lead to close the first quarter. Senior McKinzey Smith had for points for BCHS, but more importantly helped hold Maupin to a single basket.

The second quarter opened with a Katie Graham layup, and that basket set the tone for the remainder of the half. Graham had ten points in the quarter, including a basket to give her 1,0000 career points. On the strength of Graham's scoring, and dogged Butler County defense, the Lady Bears took a 27-19 into the locker room at halftime.

Maupin scored four points quickly to open the second half, and the Lady Gators cit the lead to 33-30 with 1:58 remaining in the third period. After a BCHS time out Graham ripped off six straight points, to extend the lead. Graham, Chloe Flener, and McKinzey Smith continued to stymie Maupin in the paint, leading to her picking up her fourth foul early in the fourth period. She would go on to finish with only six points and two rebounds.

In the final quarter Lynsie Clark and Shawna West keyed the Butler attack. Clark hit six of eight free throws down the stretch, and West's second three of the game with 2:25 remaining sealed the BCHS win. The final score was 54-41 in favor of the Lady Bears who improve to 4-0 ahead of a matchup with a strong South Warren High School team on Tuesday night.

Following the game Katie Graham wouldn't talk about her 1,000th point, choosing instead to brag on her teammates. Graham said the team wanted to beat the Lady Gators, who had handled the a Lady Bears easily in each of the last three seasons.

"We wanted this win," said Graham. She praised McKinzey Smith for her solid defense in Maupin, and said she's proud of her teammates. "We've been working hard to get here for a long time," said Graham. "I started really slow tonight, but my teammates picked me up, and we got the win."

UNOFFICIAL SCORING

Graham-22, L. Clark-8, Smith-8, West-8, Flener-4, Easley-2, White-2.

Story by Joe Morris, photos by Jeremy Hack, Beech Tree News