By Josh Holland:
District DoubleHeader Warren East @ Greenwood
Lady Gators 68
Lady Raiders 49
Warren East controlled the opening tip and controlled the first quarter jumping out to leads of 5-0 and 11-6 before Greenwood fought back.
Erin Houchins hit a three in the opening moments and Sarah Peters hit a step-in jumper to help East gain a 11-10 advantage after the first quarter. Caiyln Howard was the story of the first two periods, hitting a couple three-pointers and two free throws to lead all scorers at the break with eight. Greenwood counteracted Howard with the trio of Rose Mary Jackson, Alexis Dean, and Alexus Jessup. The three combined for 18 of Greenwood’s 26 points. East kept up with the offense of Greenwood by forcing the Lady Gators into 14 first half turnoversand by Baylen Wardlow hitting a three at the buzzer to cut the halftime deficit to 26-23 for Warren East.
Sarah Peters hit a three on the first possession for Warren East to tie the game at 26 and from their, the arc belonged to Greenwood. The Lady Gators pulled away in the third quarter with five make from downtown. Two from Cassie Meador and one each from Riley Hartis, Katie Douglas and Dean. That plus free throw shooting advanced the Lady Gator lead out to double digits. After hitting 11 FTs in the first half, Greenwood followed that with 14 in the second two periods. Those 25 total shots from the stripe proved pivotal in a game decided by less than 20 points. Day Bibb tied for the lead for all scorers with 12 (four Lady Gators attained that number as well) with 10 of those points coming in the third and fourth quarter.
The Lady Raiders (5-10) travel to Fort Campbell on Saturday.
Gators 60
Raiders 53
Greenwood started the game on a 6-0 run behind fast break buckets from the likes of Alex Schneller. Greenwood pushed that lead out to as much as 16-3 after three-point field goals by Alex Schneller and Collin Jackson. East mounted two small comebacks in the first but twice, 5-0 runs were cut off by Dawson Crump free throws after the Raiders icked up their seventh team foul at the 1:29 mark in the first quarter.
Dylan Gaines carried his hot shooting from quarter one to quarter two and accounted for 13 of East’s first 22 points. From there, East got easy buckets down low off of assists from Patrick Satterfield and Gaines. Dylan Whitney, Trae Cardwell, and Antwan Gilbert were each on the receiving end of those assists. The Raiders oustcored the Gators 20-11 in the second quarter and cut the Greenwood lead from double digits down to two, 33-31, at the halftime break.
The Raiders continued momentum from the end of the first half and started the third period off on a 8-1 run. East defense only allowed three total points in the third period leading to a nine point lead after three.
Greenwood found its offense in the final quarter, starting on a 14-5 run with a Collin Jackson three-pointer that tied the game at 50.
Greenwood’s Alex Fee scored seven off his 10 points including a crucial offensive rebound and put back to put the Gators up two possessions.
The Gators capitalized off of their opportunities from the line while East struggled to convert those down the stretch leading to a seven point win for Greenwood.
Warren East (9-8, 1-2) has a week off until their next game, a district matchup at Bowling Green.
