Lady Rebs beat Franklin in Autism Awareness Classic

The Lady Rebels locked up their tenth win of the season Saturday when they knocked off Franklin County (9-7) in the Autism Awareness Classic. The Classic, held at Marion County High School, raises funds for autism.
The key to the Lady Rebel’s 58-54 victory was the team’s success in shooting the basketball. Casey shot 51 percent from the field and 86 percent from the charity stripe.
“The biggest thing for us getting that win was shot selection. We found the right people and the right time and made the shots when we needed them,” Head Coach Randy Salyers said.
Casey got off to a strong start, playing extremely well and jumping out to an early advantage. The Lady Rebels continued to be in the driver’s seat and extended their lead to 12 points in the third quarter.
However, Franklin made a run in the fourth quarter by driving the lane and drawing several fouls. The lead shrank as things began to tighten up in the waning minutes.

Point guard Jasmine Johnson looks for some help during the Lady Rebs game with Rockcastle Friday night. Casey fell 46-37 in the district game.

Lady Rebel Coach Randy Salyers presented Nicole Coffman the game ball from Casey’s Dec. 21 game at the Smoky Mountain Classic, where Coffman scored her 1,000th point as a Lady Rebel. The presentation was made Friday night before the start of the Casey-Rockcastle game, which was also the Lady Rebels’ first home game of the season.

“We stopped attacking the basket like we would have liked and we put them on the line quite a bit. But in the end, we managed to hit the free throws we needed at the end of the game and got the win,” Salyers said.
Nicole Coffman led Casey with 26 points and 9 rebounds, while B.J. Hogue added 10 points.

vs. Rockcastle
The Lady Rebels were locked in a district showdown Friday night as they welcomed Rockcastle County to town. The Lady Rockets have the best record in the 12th Region at 15-1, and were also ranked fourth in the state entering the match-up.
Casey also entered the game as one of the top teams in the region and ranked 28th in the state.
In the opening quarter, the game was playing into Casey’s hands, but the second and third frames belonged to the Lady Rockets as they collected the 46-37 win.
“We wanted to keep it a low-scoring game. We held them to just six points in the opening quarter and really had the game where we wanted it,” Salyers said..
Rockcastle was clinging to a two-point lead when their top scorer, Sara Hammond, received her second foul and was forced to sit the remainder of the half. But Casey was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Rockcastle forced three Casey turnovers and ended the half on a 6-0 run to take an 8-point lead at the break, 21-13.
Jamie Wesley got the Lady Rebels going by drilling a three-pointer to start the second half. But Casey struggled to protect the basketball and fend off the stout Rockcastle defense. The pressure forced turnovers and led to Rockcastle extending the lead to 20 after three quarters.
“Those turnovers in the third quarter cost us and they were able to get points on the other end. We just made too many mental mistakes and made some passes that weren’t real smart,” Salyers said.
Coffman led a late run by Casey when she slashed into the lane and scored with two and sometimes three defenders crowding her. Coffman led the team with 24 points, including scoring Casey’s first 11 points of the game.
“Nicole is our work horse. She works for everything she gets. We need to work on being patient and getting her the ball at the right time,” Salyers said.
Lakken Miller leveled a three-point jumper to get the Rockcastle lead into single digits in the final minute, but Rockcastle managed to hold on to their lead and get the nine-point win.
The Lady Rebs were back in action last night as they hosted Pulaski County in a district match-up. Results from that game can be found at www.caseynews.net.

Stats
Jan. 14 at Liberty
Casey 8 5 7 17 -- 37
Rockcastle Co 6 15 19 6 -- 46
Casey (9-3) — Nicole Coffman 24, 5 rebs; B.J. Hogue 6, 6 rebs; Jamie Wesley 3, Lakken Miller 3, Christian Terry 1.
Rockcastle (15-1) — Hammond 16, Abbey 10, Burton 6, Arvin 6, Cobb 3, Hunter 2.

Jan. 15 Autism Awareness Classic at Lebanon
Casey Co.     15  14  16  13 -- 58
Franklin Co.  8 15 17  14 -- 54
Casey (10-3) — Coffman 26, 9 rebs; Hogue 10, Wesley 8, Katy Laman 6, Jasmine Johnson 4, Sarah Beard 2, Terry 2.
Franklin (9-7) — Hack 10, Rivers 9, Kilbourne 7, Timmons 7, White 6, Mello 6, Mayes 6, Frank 2.