Southern rallies to beat Berea

Courtney Harold provided the spark that helped Madison Southern rally for a come-from-behind win Saturday at home against long-time, cross-town district rival Berea Community (7-15).

The sophomore guard scored all 11 of her points in the second half as the Lady Eagles (8-14) stormed back from a six-point halftime deficit to pick up a 64-50 win. Senior standout Nikki Jeck had a game-high 26 points and added eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals as Southern improved to 8-14 on the season. “Our defensive intensity and rebounding was really what (got us going) in the second half,” Southern coach Brian Cunigan said. “We got some shots to fall and Courtney hit some threes that really sparked us.”

Southern took the lead early (14-10), but the Lady Pirates stormed back and went into halftime with a 26-20 advantage. The Lady Eagles answered by scoring 22 points in each of the final two quarters to rally for the victory. Harold hit a pair of threes in the third and Brooke Casteel connected from long range just before the end of the quarter. Jeck protected the lead late at the free throw line. Southern’s all-time leading scorer hit 12-of-14 free throws, including nine-of-11 in the final quarter.

Brittany Calhoun added 14 points and six rebounds for Southern, while Casteel finished with four points, Tosha Boggs added three points and Rachel Evans, Kassie Damrell and Mary Mullins had two points each. Junior guard Brittany Harris had a team-high 19 points for Berea, including five three-pointers, and senior Chelsea Atwater added 13 points. Haley Webb finished with seven points, Sophia Shearer had four points, Brooke Coccari had three points and Sarah Haycraft and Chelsea Saylor had two points each.

Southern returns to action Monday at Estill County. Berea takes on Frankfort Tuesday at home.

 -->