INDEPENDENCE, Ky. — There is a common theme around the Simon Kenton girls basketball team with the postseason tournament on the horizon.
“It’s been super-duper fun,” junior point guard Brynli Pernell said before Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve been achieving a lot of goals recently. I think we’ve been playing really well as a whole not just individually.”
Simon Kenton, ranked the No. 1 girls basketball team in Kentucky by MaxPreps, concluded its regular season Tuesday night with a 54-37 win over visiting Highlands.
Simon Kenton (26-2) is undefeated in Kentucky as it prepares for 32nd District play Monday night against Williamstown (7-20) in a semifinal at Walton-Verona. It’s the first step in what Simon Kenton hopes is a journey to Lexington in March.
“They play for each other,” Simon Kenton coach Jeff Stowers said. “They’ve been together. They’ve gone to state twice. They know what it is to get there.”
In 2025, Simon Kenton earned its second Eighth Region title in three seasons but lost in the first round of Clark’s Pump-N-Shop girls’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.
This season, the team is committed to advancing to the weekend schedule of games in Lexington.
“Sky is the limit,” Stowers said. “My hope is that we can get to Saturday morning at the state tournament. Of course we’re going one game at a time. And our girls know that. But, if we can get to Saturday morning, we can get to Saturday evening.”
Simon Kenton is led by several players, including Pernell, who averages 18.2 points and is verbally committed to Thomas More University. Pernell reached the 2,000 points career milestone in Simon Kenton’s win over host Sacred Heart Feb. 13 in Louisville. Sacred Heart is the reigning five-time state champion.
Pernell reached the career milestone on a 3-pointer during the game.
“Brynli Pernell is a constant,” Stowers said. “She’s just an assassin.”
Senior forward Haylie Webb averages 12.9 points and is signed with Thomas More. Webb said the team leaves no regrets on the court.
“For some of us it is going to be our last season,” Webbb said. “So if we want to be where we want to be – we’ve got to go out there and play like it. We’ve got to go out there and work hard every play. No plays off.”
Senior small forward/shooting guard Anna Kelch, a Georgetown College commit, said the team bond is significant to the team’s success.
“We’re all really close,” Kelch said. “And so that’s my family. I come into practice every day making jokes. If I come in sad I will walk out smiling and laughing. So it’s always just good vibes.”
That includes picking each other up throughout the season. When senior Megan Gadzala suffered a knee injury, Gadzala knew exactly where her role would be for the remainder of the season.
Stowers said Gadzala is the “heart and soul of the team” and was the team’s defensive stopper. And yet adversity hasn’t changed Gadzala’s mindset about supporting the team.
“I’m really proud of them,” Gadzala said. “I’m out this season. I recently tore my ACL. But, I know they’re going to do big things. I’ll be their No. 1 supporter. I’ll sit on the bench. I’ll cheer for them as loud as I can. I know that they can win it all.”
