Bourbon’s comeback attempt falls short as Pendleton County holds on, 54-50
Morgan Howell and Regan Ring controlled the boards, while seventh grader Kendal Hardin kept Bourbon close
JARRETT VANMETER l jarrettvanmeter@gmail.com
PARIS, KY – A new season brings a new look for the Bourbon County girls’ basketball team. Gone are Laiken Hardin and Caylie Baker, seniors from the 2023-2024 group, and with them the bulk of the Lady Colonels’ scoring production from a year ago. While effort, rebounding, and defensive intensity were in high order in the team’s 2024-2025 opener against Pendleton County on Tuesday night, the scoring void was apparent and ultimately the difference as Bourbon fell by a score of 54-50 to Coach Patrick Kelsch’s visiting LadyCats, who advanced to the regional semifinal game a year ago.
BIG NIGHT FOR RING – In one her better games wearing a Lady Colonel uniform, junior Regan Ring finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
MAKING HER CASE – Senior post player Morgan Howell made a strong case last night that she should’ve been on the preseason all-region team after she lit up 10th region contender Pendleton County with 11 points, career-high 21 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals.
The score was knotted at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter, due largely to the spark from seventh-grader Kendal Hardin off the bench. The middle schooler, who is the younger sister of the graduated Laiken Hardin, scored five of her team-high 14 points in the first quarter to keep Bourbon close.
“She is young, but she’s been around basketball long enough that she’s one of the smartest players that we have,” said Coach Kylie Hilander of Hardin. “Even in the JV game when we had the lead, she’s pulling the ball out and telling everyone where to be. It doesn’t feel like she’s as young as she is because we’ve had her as a manger for a couple of years so she’s been around us and she’s been around the game.”
Pendleton County seized control in the second quarter, pushing the deficit out to eight points, 34-26, by halftime and as many as 14 points in the third quarter before the Lady Colonels frontcourt duo of junior Regan Ring and senior Morgan Howell, who combined for 32 rebounds, came alive. The pair combined for 14 points in the second half to help Bourbon claw all the way back and cut the deficit to two points, 52-50, with seven seconds to go.
But that was as close as they got. Two made Pendleton free-throws in the closing seconds pushed the lead to 54-50 and iced the game.
“I was pleased with our fight, honestly,” said Hilander. “I think that sometimes we get a little bit down on ourselves and get a little bit in our own heads, but we went down by 14 at one point and brought it back to two. We don’t play that many people, so the fact that they continued to fight back is what I’m pleased with.”
Hilander noted that after losing the top two scorers from a season ago, the members of this year’s group might have to tweak their mindsets in order to pick up some of the slack.
“Obviously Laiken and Caylie did about seventy or eighty percent of our scoring last year, I think we have the pieces to do that now, it’s just having them be aggressive, looking for their own shot, being available, being ready to shoot, I think that’s our biggest thing,” she said.
DOING HER THING – Bourbon’s senior guard Riley Hunt opened her final campaign with the Lady Colonels scoring 8 points and dishing out 3 assists.
While Bourbon dominated the boards and in the paint, Hilander noted that ball control and cutting down on turnovers will be her challenge to her team moving ahead. Most of Pendleton County’s points came off of Lady Colonel turnovers.
“We have to keep our turnovers under control. They went into that 3-2 zone and kind of baited us into some bad passes. We talked about that and I feel like we attacked that a little bit better in the second half, they had to go man-to-man for a couple of possessions, but we have to make better passes. I feel like that’s what it comes down to. They pressured us well in the passing lanes and they beat us down the floor in transition.”
Kendal Hardin’s 14 points that saw her hit four threes, led the way. Ring totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds. Howell finished her big night with a career-high 21 rebounds, 11 points, 4 blocks and 3 assists. Senior Riley Hunt added eight points. Freshman Paisley Hutchison and junior Jenedy Solorio chipped in two points apiece to round things out.
Pendleton County’s junior Lily Ashcraft led all scorers with 26 points. She also pulled down 6 rebounds. Senior Madison Verst reached double figures with 14 points, and she also pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds.
Bourbon County (0-1) will return to action on Thursday night on the road against Menifee County. The two teams faced off at Bourbon County last season, with Hilander and company notching a narrow 47-46 victory.
“They’re a lot like Pendleton County,” said Hilander. “They’re tough and they’re physical and they work really hard.”
