By Don Brown{linefeed}

With 13 of the 15 total players who dressed for the game making it into the scoring column, the Lady Cougars made short work of the Whitesville Trinity Lady Raiders Monday night in Cougar Gym, winning their 12th District opener by a score of 83-26 to assure themselves a spot in next week’s 3rd Region Tournament in Owensboro.{linefeed}

With the win, the Lady Cougars (25-6) advanced to Thursday night’s 12th District final, where they will face the Edmonson County Lady Cats, who won their opener 58-52 over the Butler County Lady Bears.{linefeed}

The Lady Cougars trailed just once in the game, 3-0 after Whitesville’s Hannah Armes opened the scoring with a three-pointer at the 7:17 mark of the first quarter.{linefeed}

The Lady Cougars responded with 22 unanswered points, including six three-point shots, to lead 22-3 with 2:52 left in the first period. Halee Johnston hit four of those three pointers. She finished with five threes on the night for her 15 points.{linefeed}

The Lady Cougars scored the final four points of the first period and led 28-7 heading into the second quarter. They then scored the first 16 points of the second period to lead 44-7 with 3:32 left in the first half. Grayson County led by 38 points, 49-11 at halftime.{linefeed}

When the Lady Cougars opened the third quarter by scoring 24 unanswered points, they led by 62 points, 73-11.{linefeed}

Head coach Brad Johnson, who is not one who likes to bury his opponents, did all he could do to keep the score under control, letting everyone on his bench get into the game for extended minutes. But the Whitesville program, which has had fine teams in the not too distant past, has fallen on hard times in recent years and is no longer able to compete. They won only two of 24 games this season.{linefeed}

The Lady Cougars, meanwhile, are hoping this win will be the springboard to their first-ever 3rd Region Championship.{linefeed}

Grayson County put three players into double figures, led by senior guard Kylee Gorby, who finished with 20 points. Gorby also led the team with five assists and four steals.{linefeed}

Johnston finished with 15 points and added five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Maddie Stewart was the other Lady Cougar in double-digits, finishing with 12 points and adding five rebounds and a pair of steals.{linefeed}

Kelsea Wilson had eight points and led the Lady Cougars on the boards with seven rebounds. Junior Cassidy Swift, who returned just recently from a leg injury, had seven points.{linefeed}

Senior Claire Crawford came off the bench to add five points, while Kaylan Shull and Breanna Fulkerson had three apiece. Five players, Katie Newton, Grace White, Katie Beeler, Katie Hayes, and Sloan Embry, all scored two points to complete the Lady Cougar scoring.{linefeed}