A Lady Crusader turnaround

HENDERSONVILLE The Hendersonville Christian Academy girls prep basketball program combined for three wins over the last two seasons.

The Lady Crusaders are not experiencing the same struggles right now.

HCA picked up its seventh win on Thursday evening, rolling to a 56-23 victory over visiting Merrol Hyde Magnet.

“It feels awesome,” Lady Crusader senior Ali Turc said. “We working together well. As a team, we function like a family. It really is good (chemistry), and we push each other in practice. We are gassed by the end of practice, because we push.”

Turc didn’t play last season but has been a part of the program for three of the last four years.

“It’s all of us putting in hard work,” Turc said. “I’m excited. It’s my senior year.”

HCA fifth-year head coach Jack Keller felt that this success was possible.

“I’m going to go back really to the summer, to basketball camp,” Keller said. “You get the kids away for a week, and I started laying the ground work then. I expected to win games. I told them, ‘the days of just showing up are over. There are a host of (winnable) games, and I expect to win those.’

“I could see it. They couldn’t see it, but I cast the vision.”

The Lady Crusaders took control from the outset on Thursday, racing out a 16-4 lead after one period of play that swelled to 32-8 by halftime.

HCA (7-10) made eight 3-pointers, with sophomore point guard Lauren Batey accounting for six of those. Batey finished with a career-high 24 points, eclipsing her 21-point effort in Monday’s win over LEAD Academy.

Turc made the other two 3-pointers and provided 13 points, and junior forward Lindsie Mierop scored 10 points.

“I get chills (when the team is shooting well),” Turc said. “I get inspired to play even better. When we make shots, I get this spurt of energy. We feed off of it.”

Batey and Mierop combined for all of the team’s first-quarter points. In fact, Mierop scored all of her points in the first half.

Turc made both of her 3-pointers in the second period, and sophomore teammate Desi Munson scored the final three points of the half to create the 24-point margin.

“The points are coming from all different players,” Keller said. “The first couple of years I was here, we were relying on a couple of players.”

The Lady Hawks (0-7) picked up their offensive production in the third quarter, with sophomore center Kendall Frisbee providing a pair of baskets in the period.

However, Batey sank her final three 3-pointers in the third quarter as the lead swelled to 46-18 by the end of the period.

Merrol Hyde Magnet freshman Gabrielle Steiner banked in her squad’s only 3-pointer with 6:15 remaining, but then, HCA scored the game’s final eight points.

Frisbee and Steiner led the Lady Hawks offensively with six and five points, respectively.

“More than the wins, I’m watching them grow and develop,” Keller – whose squad is currently playing without senior guard Marian Silva due to an injury – said. “This team is jelling. We have good chemistry. They are growing and buying in to what I’m preaching.

“My hat’s off to the kids. They are doing what the coaches are asking, and there’s not a selfish player in the locker room. You can’t put a price on that.”

The Lady Crusaders play at Mt. Juliet Christian Academy on Tuesday, while Merrol Hyde Magnet hosts district foe Trousdale County on Tuesday.

Reach Craig Harris atcharris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.

MERROL HYDE MAGNET (23) – Kendall Frisbee 6, Gabrielle Steiner 5, Katie Frisbee 4, Caroline Riley 4, Grace Riley 4.

HENDERSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (56) – Lauren Batey 24, Ali Turc 13, Lindsie Mierop 10, Desi Munson 7, Kendall Smith 2.

Half: 32-8, HCA. Three-point goals: Merrol Hyde Magnet 1 (Steiner 1), HCA 8 (Batey 6, Turc 2). Records: Merrol Hyde Magnet 0-7, HCA 7-10.