The Best Seat in the House

News and notes from day 2 of the girls 12th Region Tournament:

• Garrard County defeated Mercer County 49-45 in double overtime; Rockcastle County defeated Wayne County 77-35. Garrard (16-8) will play Rockcastle (30-1) in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
• The quick answer as to how Garrard won and Mercer lost could be found at the free-throw line, where the Lady Lions were 8 for 13 and the Titans were 1 for 6 in overtime. There’s much more to it than that, of course, but Mercer could have put the game away had it not missed three of four free throws in the first extra period — including the front end of the bonus twice — and Garrard did put the game away by going 5 for 7 in the final 1:33 of the second overtime.
• Garrard’s Haley Meadows missed a layup that would have tied the game with 30 seconds left in the first overtime, but she came back to hit a tying 3-point shot at :07 to force a sixth period. The Lady Lions took a 46-42 lead with four straight points by Devin Napier, then saw their lead cut to one when Mercer’s Cawood Dedman sank a 3-pointer at :37, but the Titans couldn’t score again.
• Napier scored a game-high 23 points for Garrard, and Meadows had 10 points. Carli Souder hit five 3-pointers and led Mercer with 17 points, and Dedman added 10.
• There was no such drama in the second game, as Rockcastle raced to an 11-0 lead in less than 2 1/2 minutes and went on to lead 24-4 late in the first quarter and 41-17 at halftime. Wayne’s defense simply had no answer for the Lady Rockets’ offense.
• Rockcastle had five girls in double figures: Shanlee Burton and Angie Lawrence scored 15 points each, Sara Hammon and Sydney Arvin scored 14 each and Kristin Abney had 10. Kayla Bowlin led Wayne with 12 points.
• The girls regional resumes Friday, while the boys tournament takes center stage for the next two nights. Southwestern (14-16) and Rockcastle County (7-22) play in the opening game at 6 p.m., and Mercer County (21-8) faces host Lincoln County (15-15) at 7:30 p.m. Southwestern defeated Rockcastle 70-57 on Feb. 7 at Mount Vernon, while Mercer and Lincoln have split two games this season. The Patriots won 62-46 on Dec. 23 at Harrodsburg; the Titans won 77-71 on Feb. 4 at Stanford.