LEXINGTON, Ky. — “With under a minute to play in the 2025 Sweet 16 finals, George Rogers Clark led by three points. Sacred Heart, the three-time defending state champion that had ended GRC’s season each of the last three years, was finally on the ropes.
The Cardinals in March were the closest team to unseating the dynastic Valkyries, but close was only good enough for a (silver ball) runner-up trophy and a final minute that GRC head coach Robbie Graham can’t shake.”
This time, there was no silver ball and no lingering what-ifs for George Rogers Clark. They had finally accomplished what they had danced all around for decades — carrying the gold ball back to Winchester and securing the first state championship in program history.
On Saturday night in Rupp Arena, Robbie Graham’s Lady Cardinals finally broke down the door they had been knocking on for decades, leaving the Cardinals with a Sweet feeling after last year’s bitter loss.
“365 days ago, we were on the other side of this thing. It didn’t feel very good, that bus ride home. That was a long offseason. But from day one, we started in the summer, the talk was gold ball, not silver ball. We want to get back here and we want to win the gold ball. Every day it was talked about. Every single day.”
GRC erased an early seven-point deficit, took control in the second half and beat Assumption 48-43 on Saturday night at Rupp Arena to win the 2026 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16®.
The victory capped a run that also included wins over North Laurel, Franklin-Simpson, and Simon Kenton, one year after George Rogers Clark finished as state runner-up.
Assumption led 15-8 after the first quarter as Ashlinn James scored nine early points and helped the Rockets build their largest lead at 21-14 late in the second quarter. George Rogers Clark answered before halftime, getting a layup and a jumper from Kennedy Stamper in the final 23 seconds to cut the margin to 21-19 at the break.
“It was a tough, tough, physical game. Really proud of our kids, how hard they worked,” Coach Graham said. “We got down early, we could have folded, kept fighting, gave ourselves a shot, got down two at the half, and felt like we didn’t play very well at all the first half. We were down two. Felt like we could have been down 15 or so. So, give these kids credit. They just kept plugging, kept fighting, kept scrapping.”
The Lady Cardinals finally moved in front in the third quarter. Eliyah Strode scored to tie it at 23, then scored again for GRC’s first lead at 25-23. George Rogers Clark pushed the lead to 33-27 before Assumption closed the quarter with six straight points, including a tying layup by Se’Rae Bundrent-Palmer with four seconds left, sending the game to the final eight minutes tied at 33.
That is when GRC’s showed their championship grit. Teigh Yeast opened the quarter with six straight points to stretch the lead to 39-33. After Assumption trimmed the margin, Strode answered with a layup, and Yeast scored again at the 2:08 mark for a 43-35 lead. George Rogers Clark then sealed it at the foul line, building their largest lead at 47-38 with 31 seconds left.
Strode led George Rogers Clark with 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, while Yeast added 12 points and four steals. Stamper scored 10, and Anaya Chestnut finished with eight points and four rebounds. GRC shot 45% from the field, went 12 of 18 at the line and held Assumption to 1-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.
The Lady Cardinals had finished as runners-up two other times before. In 1989 under coach Lisa Goodin, they fell to Clay County 48-44 in triple overtime. Two years later they lost to Laurel County 33-31.
A community celebration will take place on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. at the George Rogers Clark High School gymnasium.
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