The McCracken County Lady Mustangs continued their streak of eight consecutive district wins in their 56-33 victory over Paducah Tilghman on Friday night. A week off by both teams showed its effects with some sluggish play in the early stages, but ultimately the Lady Mustangs settled in and pulled away.
“I felt like we were off for a few days with the snow, and you could tell,” McCracken head coach Scott Sivills said. “We were rushed pretty much the entire game. I felt like we did some good stuff in the game, but it was kind of a lackluster type performance. But again, a win is a win, and I’ll take those twenty four seven all day and twice on Sundays.”
On if the slow start was a product of the hiatus, Coach Sivills said taking a break is never easy, but as a player you have to rise to the occasion.
“Well everybody had a break, not just us,” Sivills said. “If you’re a baller, you’re a baller. It doesn’t matter if you’re off a day or you’re off four days, you gotta show up ready to play.”
The early stages of the contest consisted of the Second District foe trading baskets, McCracken holding the 14-13 advantage after the first quarter. This is when the Lady Mustang defense started to turn up the intensity, never allowing Tilghman to reach double figures in a period for the remainder of the game. Six different Lady Mustangs combined for a 16-point second period, and held a 30-19 lead at the midpoint.
“We just started to make some better basketball IQ decisions, and got some shots to go down,” Coach Sivills said was the difference in the second frame. “That’s been our achilles heel. We’re getting some good looks, we just can’t make some shots. We’re going to keep teaching it, shooting with confidence. It may not go in, but we’re going to keep playing the game the right way.”
Both squads struggled out of the break, but the Lady Mustangs held onto their lead until the end, the scoreboard displaying 56-33 after the final buzzer.
Ava Hughes was the only Lady Mustang in double figures with 11, Lilly Hamilton just missing that mark with nine. Myiesha Smith led Tilghman with 15, Hailyn Hughes behind her with 12 off 45% shooting.
Now 4-0 in district play and 15-6 on the season, the Lady Mustangs have yet to have a district affair decided by less than 20 points. Winning the Second District is always the most important goal for McCracken, a tournament they have won every year since 2016.
“It’s always our goal to win our district every year,” Sivills said. “That’s the number one priority because you want to go into the region tournament as a winner, not a loser. The last 11 years, we’ve controlled our destiny here in our district, and every year is the same way.”
McCracken has a quick turnaround and will face the current Region 3 RPI leaders in Daviess County. The 12 p.m. game at home will be a big test for the Lady Mustangs, as that is the first of seven games left in the regular season.
The Lady Blue Tornado look to snap their nine-game drought next Friday against Meridian-Mounds at 6 p.m.