State title coming?

With the Lady Knights starting the season 5-0, they appear to be poised for another run to the state tournament.  
Last season ended in heartbreak and disappointment for the Lady Knights who ran into eventual state champions, Mercy, on March 10, 2010, in the opening round of the state tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.  This season’s schedule holds a rematch with Mercy on Feb. 15 when Marion County travels to Louisville to face the Jaguars.  
The two schools have met on six other occasions prior to the state tournament loss, with the two teams splitting those six decisions evenly.  
A quick look back through the past four seasons shows the progressive improvement of the local girl’s team.
In the 2006-07 season, Head Coach Trent Milby’s first year, the Lady Knights finished the season with a 20-11 mark, losing to Bethlehem in the opening round of the regional tournament by three points; 62-59.  
Of the 11 losses, eight were decided by 10 points or fewer.  This season also had a game in which the girls went over the century mark, which was the first time in program history, with a 100-89 overtime win against Adair County in the district final.
The 2007-08 season team holds the highest scoring average per game in program history.  This team averaged a little over 71 points per game throughout the season.  With a final record of 28-4, this team also made an exit in the first round of the regional tournament with a 59-55 loss to Hart County.  That year’s team drubbed Campbellsville by 73 points in a 101-28 rout, and won 18 games by 25 or more points.
The 2008-09 season was a complete change from the previous season.  This year’s team averaged only 59 points per game, but came away with a 27-7 record.  This group of girls had an 11 game winning streak mid-season, and finished out the season on a seven game winning streak before falling in the regional finals to Elizabethtown 51-46.  That five-point loss was a massive improvement on the 26-point defeat the Lady Knights took at the hands of the Lady Panthers on Feb. 5, 2009, but left them one game short of appearing in the state tournament for the first time since March of 1995.
Last season’s Lady Knights team featured one of the most potent group of girls to play in Kentucky in quite a long while.  This squad had many players with true Division 1 potential, and many of them are still underclassmen.  This team finished with a 33-2 record, the best win percentage since the 1983-84 season, and the program’s first number one state ranking since the 1994-95 team.  This teams only losses were to a team from Ohio and Mercy.  
The last four seasons have brought a new perspective to the girls’ basketball program at Marion County High School.  Improvement in each season’s depth of playoff run is evidence of a possible state title run in the very near future.  The current schedule for the Lady Knights appears to be a bit tougher than last year, but with the return of key players, and addition of newcomers, this team has the experience and talent to make a deep run in the state tournament.  This year’s version of the Lady Knights should add a considerable amount of wins to coach Milby’s already outstanding 108-24 record as head coach.  As basketball fans we should all hope to see our Lady Knights playing in March at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green for a state title sometime soon.

Josh Veatch Sports Correspondent