Caldwell County has a promising middle school class on the way, and Coach Chuck Mitchell got an unplanned preview Thursday at Murray.
Caldwell rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to tie the game before falling 47-43 on the road.
Leading scorer Jacey Jaggers scored turned her ankle on the first play of the game after scoring a bucket. She returned for one series in the second quarter, converted a 3-point play but couldn’t continue.
The Lady Tigers were already playing without starting guard Majah Hollowell who was also injured.
Mitchell turned to his bench where eighth-grader Katy Smiley gave Caldwell a boost. She scored six of her team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lady Tiger rally.
Fellow eighth graders Brylee Butts and Morgan Aikens also gave Caldwell some valuable minutes off the bench,
In the end, Caldwell didn’t have an answer for Murray guard Angela Gierhart. The senior guard, who will be playing soccer for Murray State in the fall, scored 33 of Murray’s 47 points. She helped keep Caldwell at bay by knocking down 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter. Gierhart hit 9 of 12 free throws in the game. Caldwell hit 6 of 12 as a team.
Caldwell jumped out to a 6-2 lead early before Murray ended the quarter on a 12-0 run.
A 9-0 run by Caldwell in the second quarter saw them take a 23-20 lead. Gierhart ended the half with three straight buckets to put Murray ahead 26-23 at intermission.
Murray built its lead to 35-25, but Caldwell steadily chipped away at the deficit.
Parris Gray tied the game at 42 with 1:33 left with Caldwell’s only 3-pointer of the game. Caldwell got the ball back after a Murray turnover but gave it back with 50 ticks left.
Up 44-43 with 30 seconds left, Murray missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Caldwell couldn’t corral the rebound, and it the ball went out of bounds back to Murray.
Gierhart hit two free throws then blocked Caldwell’s tying attempt behind the arc with seven seconds left.
A.J. Hollowell and Gray both scored eight points for Caldwell, and Karsyn Parker had eight points and eight rebounds.
Murray was playing without its second-leading scorer Makenzie Turley, who scores 14 points a game.
Caldwell dropped to 3-4 with the loss and was looking for its first win over Murray since the 1981-82 season.
Caldwell will visit the First Region again Saturday when they pay a visit to Mayfield for a 5:30 contest.
Caldwell County 6 17 9 11– 43
Murray 14 12 10 11– 47
Caldwell County [3-4] – Smiley 10, Hollowell 8, Parker 8, Gray 8, Jaggers 5, McDaniels 2, McKinney 2
Murray [5-2] – Gierhart 33, Daughrity 8, Oakley 2, Darnell 2, Campbell 2
