Bardstown picked up its first district win of the season Tuesday, holding Bethlehem scoreless over the final two minutes on the way to a 44-40 victory.

Peter W. Zubaty

Bardstown’s Karis Rogers (right) hassles Bethlehem’s Olivia Simpson on a drive to the basket Tuesday. The Tigers hung on for a 44-40 win, their first district victory of the season.

Buy this photo

Peter W. Zubaty

Nelson County reserve center Tiffany Chan puts up a shot against Thomas Nelson’s Kaylee Dickson Wednesday. The Cardinals got out to a big lead early, giving the Nelson bench lots of playing time. The Cardinals visit Bardstown tonight, while Thomas Nelson hosts Bethlehem.

Buy this photo

1 of 2

“I am very proud of the team and how we responded on the court,” Tigers coach Jamie Neal said. “We played hard all four quarters and made good decisions. We were focused and excited to see our hard work come through.”

Bardstown (4-18, 1-6 dist.) had built a 39-34 lead on Shatonda Calbert’s three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but Bethlehem (4-12, 2-5 dist.) rallied back to cut it to 39-38 with 4:06 left. The Banshees — who have lost seven straight since beating the Tigers Jan. 8 — had several chances to take the lead over the next minute. However, they were unable to knock down a shot, and never got closer than two after Kasia Stone’s three at the 2:55 mark put Bardstown back up 42-38.

Neal said Stone (18 points) and Calbert (14), whose free throws with 28 seconds left iced it, came up with big shots, and senior Karis Rogers provided the team with key leadership in the game.

Olivia Simpson led Bethlehem with 11 points.

The Tigers visit Nelson County tonight at 6 p.m. in the front end of a girls-boys doubleheader. Bethlehem is at Thomas Nelson tonight at 6 p.m., also in a girls-boys doubleheader. The winner of the Banshees-Generals matchup clinches the No. 3 seed in this month’s 19th District tournament.

Nelson tops TNHS, North Bullitt

The Cardinals (19-4) pushed their district mark to 7-0 on the season Wednesday, jumping on their former teammates with a 24-4 first quarter and never looking back in an 81-21 win at Thomas Nelson.

Caitlin Hagan and Brooklyn Greer led the way for Nelson, each scoring 16 points and connecting on four three-pointers apiece.

A.J. Lewis added 14 for the Cardinals and Cierra Drake pitched in 10.

Evelyn Tichenor’s 10 points led the way for the Generals, who fell to 3-17 overall and 2-4 in district play.

Nelson also got the job done Tuesday, pulling away from North Bullitt in the third quarter on the way to a 65-60 win.

The Cardinals got 15 points from Lewis and 14 from Hagan in the win, while Brianna Harman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.