Makayla Epps drove the lane to score the go ahead basket with 2 seconds left in the Kentucky Premier 17U 53-51 win over the Dayton Hoopstars.
It is the situation that every high school basketballer dreams of. Score tied, a minute to go and the ball is in your hands. You patiently wait until the coach tells you to go, you take your defender inside, weave your way thru the rest of the defense and take the short inside bank shot that kisses off the backboard and falls thru the hoop. Her basket topped off a furious comeback by the Kentucky squad...who trailed 39-28 with 11:00 to go in the second half and managed to tie the contest at 44-44 with 6:12 on the clock.
Makayka Epps' shot helped the Kentucky Premier advance to the 2nd round of the Summer Derby Classic...being held at the University of Louisville campus. Several venues are being used for the event, including the Student Activities Center, Cardinal Arena and The Basketball Academy.
The Kentucky Select 17U squad, composed of high school girls' standouts from the state, rolled in the next game over the Georgia Jaguars 90-32 and will face Cincinnati Premier Wednesday at 1:50. Several UofL recruits on the Kentucky Premier team...including Epps, Sarah Hammond from Rockcastle County and Epps teammates Kyvin Goodin-Rogers. Bre Elder, from Marion County, is also on the team, along with Kayla Bies (Upperman, Clarksville, TN.), Danay Fothergill (Southwestern, Somerset, KY), Kayla Bowlin (Wayne County, KY), Megan Pittman (Casey County, KY) and Jessica Hardin (Wayne County).
Kentucky Select is one of 72 teams participating in the FILA Summer Derby Classic, an AAU event sponsored by All Star Girls Report and Michael T. White, INC. Four divisions are set up for the teams in a guaranteed five game tournament...with 14,15,16 and 17 year old and under brackets. Kentucky is represented well in the event, with 10 teams participating. Teams from as far as New Jersey, California and South Dakota are represented and a total of 19 states are taking part.
AAU ball is a little different than high school hoops. There is no shot clock and the games consist of (2) 16 minutes halves. Each player is allowed six fouls before disqualification and overtime periods are sudden death..with the first team scoring two or more points winning. The clock runs continuously if a team leads by more than 15 in the final 5 minutes of the game. There is no one and one from the foul line after seven fouls in a half but teams do receive the 2 shot bonus after ten fouls.
A large groups of college coaches are in town to watch the action and a good representation of UofL folks on hand as well. It was good to see Laura Terry up and around working the T-Shirt booth. She reports her knee is doing better each day. We'll miss her on the court for the Lady Cards this year.
Tickets are $10 a day and this includes all sessions at all locations...if you want to check out the action and can be purchased at Cardinal Arena. Games begin at 8 AM. A listing of scheduled games and results can be found at:
www.asgr.info/tournaments/sdcs
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