The Anderson County Lady Bearcats once again hoisted the 30th District trophy on Friday night, defeating the Spencer County Lady Bears 38-31 in the championship game hosted at Woodford County High School in Versailles.
Anderson County, entering into the district tournament as the top-seed, faced the four-seed Collins Lady Titans on Tuesday, cruising to a comfortable 54-12 victory. The second-seeded Spencer County squad also earned a nearly 20-point victory over Shelby on Wednesday night to set up the rematch, beating the Lady Rockets 45-26.
Anderson County had previously enjoyed two decades of wins over their district neighbors to the west. However, the Lady Bears upset Anderson 37-32 on January 27, 2023 in Lawrenceburg to break the streak. Questions loomed as to whether the Lady Bearcats would begin a new reign of dominance over Spencer starting with a win in the district tournament, or if Spencer would prove themselves as the team to beat.
Friday night’s district championship matchup showed that the Lady Bearcats were worthy of their top-seed, and equally worthy of being the odds-on favorite in the eighth region. The lead remained in Anderson’s grasp for nearly the entirety of the game, and sophomore Lainey Johnson showed everyone watching why she was the top player in the region.
Johnson led the team on Friday with 17 points, followed by junior point guard Jenna Satterly with nine points, sophomore Faith McGregor with eight points, and senior Jenna Beasley and sophomore Ella Baum with two points each.
Five members of the Lady Bearcats team were selected to be on the 30th district all tournament team. Jenna Satterly, Jenna Beasley, Faith McGregor, and Jayci Lucas all were recognized as selections, with Lainey Johnson being chosen as the all tournament MVP for the girls.
The team now will compete for the chance to go to the KHSAA state tournament for an unprecedented fourth straight time. Only Oldham County has been able to pull off the four-peat, winning the eighth region every year from 1983-1986.
The regional tournament is being hosted at Gallatin County High School in Warsaw. If Anderson County makes it past the 29th district runner-up North Oldham Lady Mustangs (17-14), they will face the winners of Grant County (18-10) and Carroll County (14-18). Grant County won the 32nd district championship game by two points over Simon Kenton, and Carroll County lost the 31st district championship to Owen County by 20 points.
If Anderson County makes it to the regional championship game, the potential matchups would be interesting for eighth region fans, including matchups with Owen County, Simon Kenton, and South Oldham. However, perhaps no game would pique the interest more than a 30th district championship rematch with Spencer County.
The semifinal contest will take place at Gallatin County tomorrow (March 3) at 7:30 p.m. The championship game will be Saturday in Warsaw at 7 p.m.