Western Ball Hogs sharp in title win
Jul. 25—The Western Ball Hogs played a pair of AAU games in Bowling Green on Saturday morning, but those merely proved to be warm-ups for the big show on Saturday night.
Taking control early and never letting up, the Western Ball Hogs defeated J's Good Grub 41-33 to win a high-level Girls' 7th-8th Grade championship game in the 48th Annual Dust Bowl outdoor basketball tournament before a big crowd at Kendall-Perkins Park.
"This is huge for our team," Western Ball Hogs coach Edwin Carter said. "We've talked about the Dust Bowl a lot and these girls, all of them from Owensboro, know how important this event is — they understand that the Dust Bowl is legendary.
"Last year, we didn't get to play in it because of COVID and that makes it that much sweeter to win it this year. This is an unselfish group of girls who play hard every time they take the court."
The Western Ball Hogs drove the ball to the basket with effectiveness early on, taking a 14-9 lead on a baseline basket by Amari Carbon that forced a timeout by J's Good Grub at the 7:40 mark of the first half.
The Ball Hogs maintained control throughout the remainder of the half and built a 28-18 lead by intermission.
"This is a veteran group that's been playing together for four or five years and they know what they're going out there," Carbon said. "Offensively, they are totally unselfish and because they share the ball so well it leads to good shots for us."
Nonetheless, Carter and his team faced a huge obstacle in the form of Kaylese Mitchell, J's Good Grub's formidable 6-foot-4 eighth-grade center.
"She was definitely a big force in there," Carter said, "but I thought we did a good job of fronting her and then double-teaming her whenever she got the ball. She's so tall that we were really focused on boxing out, and I thought we did a good job in that area also."
J's Good Grub made some runs at Western Ball Hogs in the second half, but Carter's team never wavered.
"I'm really proud of the way we played solid team defense," Carter said. "These girls love each other, they're like sisters, and they just work so well together at both ends of the court. They've been playing ball together for so long that they trust each other completely, and that can take you a long way in a tournament situation.
"It's been fun watching them grow and develop as players and as individuals through the years. They're a great group and they went out and earned this championship."
Eight players scored for the champions, whose balance was key. Unique Carter-Swanigan, Anari Carbon and Kelisha Hauh each scored seven points to lead the way.
Shaelyn Sprinkles scored a game-best 10 points for J's Good Grub, which also got eight points from Mitchell and seven from Gizelle Whitlock.
