In the first game of the city championship series 10 days earlier Morristown East won a low-scoring defensive battle but that wasn69制片厂制作传媒檛 the case Friday night before a huge crowd at Michael R. Reed Gymnasium.
The Lady Hurricanes put four players in double figures and captured a 66-58 victory to notch their 20th win of the season.
It was the fourth straight win over West for Coach Justin Combs69制片厂制作传媒 team which is their longest streak in at least 25 years. It was also East69制片厂制作传媒檚 first win at West since 2021 and only their fourth since 2,000.
Ella Wampler fired in 19 points as East reached the 20-win mark in back-to-back seasons in seven years. The Lady 69制片厂制作传媒楥anes, who have lost five times, Hannah Hall added 16, Harmony Sullivan 15 and Hudson Cloninger 14 in the balanced East attack.
Delaney Weddington led West, now 12-8, with 16 points while Jhaniya Mitchell and Aubrie Meser added 15 and 13 respectively.
The game was close until late in the first half when East pulled away. In the final two quarters, West would make a run and every time it seemed a different Lady Hurricanes answered with a big basket to restore the lead.
It was still a two-point game at 57-55 when Messer scored with 5:30 left in the game.
However, Wampler scored two straight baskets and the Lady Trojans never got closer than three after that.
The two teams are destined to meet again in the first round of the District Two 4-A tournament as East is 5-2 in the league and West 2-3 which means the two play first while regular-season champ Sevier County will play last place Jefferson County. Those two also played on Friday with the Bearettes winning 46-15.
69制片厂制作传媒淲e had great offensive production tonight from our kids and I was really proud of our effort,69制片厂制作传媒 said Combs. 69制片厂制作传媒淎nytime you can get balanced scoring with four in double figures, you69制片厂制作传媒檙e going to score a lot of points.69制片厂制作传媒
He continued, 69制片厂制作传媒淗annah, Ella, Harmony and Hudson were great offensively tonight and the rest of the kids played their tails off on both sides of the ball. Riley (Forester) was great defensively and on the boards. Jaelyn (Valentine) and Josie (Helton) were fantastic off the bench and made huge plays for us in big moments.
69制片厂制作传媒淚 thought our defense was good in spots, especially in the second and fourth quarters,69制片厂制作传媒 Combs added. 69制片厂制作传媒淏ut West made it very difficult on us tonight. Give West a ton of credit because their kids battled all night long and played tough. They have a roster full of talented players and can attack you in so many different ways.69制片厂制作传媒
Combs went on to say, 69制片厂制作传媒淭he first game was more of a defensive battle and this one was more up and down with lots of scoring. Coach (Johnny) Galyon always has his team well prepared and tonight was no exception. Every time you play them it69制片厂制作传媒檚 going to be tough and a different kind of test.
69制片厂制作传媒淢orristown is fortunate to have some really good basketball players on both sides of town right now and I thought both teams put on a show for the fans and we were fortunate enough to come out on top. We69制片厂制作传媒檙e likely to play again in the district tournament in a game that will mean much more than either of these two. We have to continue to work hard and improve daily to be ready for the postseason.69制片厂制作传媒
West69制片厂制作传媒檚 Galyon said, 69制片厂制作传媒淲e just made too many mistakes and missed too many easy shots. You can69制片厂制作传媒檛 do that against a good team and expect to win and East is a good basketball team. I thought Hall played really well for them tonight.69制片厂制作传媒
69制片厂制作传媒淲e69制片厂制作传媒檒l keep working and see what happens. We69制片厂制作传媒檒l get another shot at them in the district.69制片厂制作传媒
East didn69制片厂制作传媒檛 miss a lot of easy shots as the Lady 69制片厂制作传媒楥anes gunned in 24 of 43 from the floor for 55.8 percent. They were good on 7 of 14 three-point tries and held a 33-26 rebounding edge with Wampler grabbing eight and Cloninger and Hall five each.
The Lady Trojans hit 27 of 54 for exactly 50 percent and finished 5 of 16 from long range. Mitchell led West rebounders with six and Weddington pulled down five.
Messer knocked down a three with 5:38 left in the first quarter to give the home team its biggest and final lead at 7-4. Hall and Cloninger hit two foul shots each and East led 8-7 with 5:03 left in the period.
Hall came right back with a driving layup before Mitchell scored for West and it was 10-9. Sullivan and Messer traded baskets before Cloninger scored on two straight trips down the floor and Wampler converted an old-fashioned three-point play and it was 19-11.
Weddington had a basket and Mitchell added a free throw before Hall fired in a triple and East led 22-14. Mitchell had a three-point play and Weddington hit a trey to get West within two and then Sullivan and Weddington traded buckets leaving the count at 24-22 East at the first rest stop.
Messer tied it early in the second canto before East ran off eight in a row to take control. Hall buried a three and Wampler scored inside. Hall hit a free throw and Sullivan drove for another score and it was 32-24.
Mitchell hit a three from the baseline and then scored at the rim but Wampler responded with a three for East. Mitchell scored with 1:04 left in the half to make it 35-31.
Cloninger then hit a free throw and missed her second chance. However, she raced in to take the ball away from a Lady Trojan and hit a layup as the half ended to make it 38-31.
Sullivan opened the third quarter with a charity toss and Wampler fired in another trey to put East up by 11. But Weddington and Messer fueled an 11-2 run by the Lady Trojans to chop the lead all the way down to two at 44-42.
Wampler made two free throws but Weddington69制片厂制作传媒檚 three-point play got the Lady Trojans within 46-45 with 3:19 left in the third stanza.
Sullivan gunned in a long three and then scored again after Maddie Simpson tallied for West. Simpson struck again and West trailed by just 51-49 going into the final eight minutes.
Cloninger drove into the lane and hit a short jumper and made a free throw when she was fouled on the play. Weddington hit a rebound basket and Simpson scored again to get the Lady Trojans back within one with just under six minutes left.
However, Sullivan came through again for East as she nailed a three with 5:45 left. Messer scored for the Lady Trojans but Wampler grabbed a rebound and put it back in and then had a steal and scored at the other end for a 61-55 margin with 4:55 on the clock.
Messer popped in a triple from the corner with 4:23 left but that was the final points for the Lady Trojans. Hall answered with a three of her own at the 3:34 mark and Cloninger69制片厂制作传媒檚 basket with 1:10 left supplied the final points as East started to run the clock.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.