Strong free-throw shooting leads Bullitt East to district title - Chargers went 29 of 34 from the free-throw line

Riding a wave of free throws in the fourth quarter, the Bullitt East girls basketball team held off Mercy 54-48 on Thursday evening to win the 24th District Tournament, held at the Christian Academy of Louisville.

In a tightly officiated game that saw a combined 46 fouls called, the Chargers’ strong free-throw shooting proved to be the difference against the Jaguars. The Chargers (20-5) went 29 of 34 from the free-throw line, hitting at an 85 percent clip, while theJaguars made 10 of 20 attempts from the line.

“We’ve shot free throws really well all year long,” Bullitt East coach Chris Stallings said. “Offensively we try to attack as much as we can, so we put teams in those situations. We hit a lull right at the end of the season where we didn’t shoot free throws very well, but it was good to see it came back in the postseason.”

University of Kentucky basketball commit Lindesy Duvall, in just her fifth game of the season, scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench for the Chargers. Duvall was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, including four made free throws in the game’s final minute.

“I felt pretty good (at the free-throw line) because I’ve been in that situation before so I was pretty confident in myself,” Duvall said. “I keep getting better. I’m getting close to being back. I’m still a step slow sometimes but I’m getting better each game.”

Senior Madi Woods scored 13 points to lead the Jaguars, and sophomore center Danielle Feldkamp scored 12 points to go with nine rebounds in the defeat.

The Chargers hit one shot in the fourth quarter, but it turned out to be their most important basket of the game.

Early in the period, a Feldkamp put-back layup brought Mercy (20-11) within two points of Bullitt East. But seconds later, Duvall answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner to go up by five points. Moments later, Duvall’s offensive rebound from a missed free throw lead to a foul that she converted into two more points, stretching the Chargers’ lead to seven points.

Mercy only came within five points the rest of the game.

“It gives us another element offensively,” Stallings said of having Duvall back on the court. “She had some big threes and free throws.”

The Jaguars did make a furious run late in the fourth quarter to try and win the game, but the Chargers’ free-throw shooting kept them ahead. The Jaguars scored 16 fourth-quarter points, but the Chargers hit 15 of 19 free throws in the final stanza to close the game out.

“Bullitt East deserves all the credit,” Mercy coach Keith Baisch said. “They came out, honestly they were tougher than we were, and they wanted it more than we did.”

Late in the first half, the Jaguars also cut their deficit to two points, only for the Chargers to answer back immediately through a 3-pointer from junior Lauren Madsen and a steal followed by two made free throws from junior Kirstie Henn.

The Jaguars actually were the early aggressors and got off to a quick 4-0 lead before the Chargers found their rhythm and took control of the game midway through the first quarter.

The All-District Tournament team included Mercy’s Madi Woods, Danielle Feldkamp, and Jessica Laemmle, Bullitt East’s Kathleen Scott, Alyssa Peak, Raegen Williams, and Lindesy Duvall. Whitefield Academy’s Abby Ritter, Fern Creek’s Jane Lado and Nsasa Makando, and Jeffersontown’s Keyona Dyson and Kenesha Hull.