Wayne County's Macey Blevins is the 12th Region Player of the Year. (Wade Upchurch Photo)
All season I have thought the four best girls teams in the 12th Region were Southwestern, Danville, Wayne County, and Mercer County. That’s why it is no surprise that those are the four semifinalists in the regional tourney. Wayne County (19-3) plays Mercer County (11-8) in the first semifinal at Pulaski County Thursday night while Danville (16-5) faces Southwestern (18-3) Friday night. The survivors will play for a Sweet Sixteen berth on Sunday.
Danville lost 61-57 at Southwestern on January 12 when it only made 18 of 57 shots from the field and 18 of 28 free throws. But Southwestern also only got seven points from leading scorer Alexa Smiddy in that game and still won.
Lara Akers averages 13.6 points for Danville and has hit 53 3-pointers this year. Camryn Preston adds 10.8 points and 6.1 rebounds.
The Admirals have the region’s most depth and go eight deep with no real impact and have seven players averaging 5.2 points or more per game. Guard Tyliah Bradshaw could be big in this game with her defense on Smiddy, one of the region’s most elusive players to guard, and it seems in the biggest games Bradshaw almost always scores all above her average of 5.5 points per game.
Smiddy leads Southwestern at 15 points per game while Kaylee Young averages 10 and Kindly Molden, who had 14 against Danville, adds 9.9 points. The Warriors have averaged about nine made 3-pointers per game and hit 14 in a 67-52 48th District championship game win over Wayne County. Southwestern has four players who have made 35 or more 3-pointers.
Wayne County has 12th Region Player of the Year Macey Blevins, a Western Kentucky signee. She averages 18.2 points per game and shoots 46 percent from the field. She’s unselfish and dishes the ball well and often. She also is a solid rebounder and can control a game in a lot of ways.
Mallory Campbell adds 12.1 points per game and Kenzie Upchurch 11 per game. Wayne has made 159 3-pointers, including 43 by Blevins.
Wayne beat Mercer 82-74 on January 30 in a highly entertaining and fast-paced game. Mercer has the region’s best sophomore in Timberlyn Yeast who averages a double-double — 18.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 percent overall.
She’s not the only super sophomore the Titans have. Guard Anna Drakeford adds 14.4 points per game and hits 48 percent from the field. She’s dynamic driving to the basket and can get Mercer into instant offense. Senior Stevie Shepherd contributes 9.5 points per game and leads the team with 31 3’s.
So each team has a huge strength — Danville (most depth), Wayne (best player), Southwestern (overall 3-point shooting), and Mercer (two electric sophomores) — it could easily ride to a regional title.
