Lady Patriots sweep home wins

Turning in perhaps their two best performances of the season in weekend wins over Kenwood and Milan has the Henry County High School girls’ basketball team thinking about a strong finish to the 2018-19 season.

The Lady Patriots improved to 5-2 in district games by blasting Kenwood 67-23 on Friday at Gamlin Gymnasium. Playing at home again on Saturday, the Lady Patriots rolled past Milan 75-27 in a non-district battle.

Henry County is now 12-4 on the season overall. The Lady Patriots will play on the road this week with district games at West Creek on Tuesday and at Northeast on Friday. Varsity play begins at 6 p.m. both nights.

Lady Patriot head coach Cliff Curd was very pleased with the Lady Patriots effort on Friday and Saturday. He said he saw much improvement in the Lady Patriots’ passing, shooting, defense and rebounding.

“I had been feeling for a while that we weren’t really clicking like we needed to and had been waiting for that to happen. Well, we played very, very well the last two nights. We moved the ball well and found the open shots. We took good shots and we hit those shots. We had eight girls make three-pointers against Milan. That is a testament to amount of work these girls have been putting in to become good shooters,” said Curd.

He said there was a player on the Lady Patriots’ roster that couldn’t hit shots.

Curd was also happy the Lady Patriots were able to step and play well with senior Caroline Singleton missing the two games with an injury. Curd said junior Gracey Pack has gotten healthy and that helped the Lady Patriots this weekend.

“We had been talking about everyone taking upon themselves to do a little more and take up the slack if someone was missing or having a bad game. I think we really did that in these two games. Caroline Singleton has our best scoring average, so we miss her when she isn’t in the game but we’ve had three or four others lead us in scoring in games this year, so it isn’t devestating,” said Curd.

Curd said the Lady Patriots’ junior varsity team would play Stewart County at 6 p.m. Thursday at Gamlin Gymnasium.

LADY PATRIOTS 67,

LADY KNIGHTS 23

Henry County started fast against Kenwood and never let the Lady Knights get into the game. The Lady Patriots rolled to a 22-8 first-quarter lead on the strength of four 3-point baskets. Kelli Chipman sank two of those shots while Pack and Mary Raye Smith added 3-pointers.

A 22-9 scoring run in the second period pushed Henry County’s halftime lead to 44-17. Caroline Hudson hit for five points, including a 3-pointer, for the Lady Patriots in the second stanza.

Henry County continued to score well in the third period and outgunned Kenwood 18-5 to build a 62-22 lead. Chipman and Shamaya Humphreys both scored five points in the third quarter.

The Lady Patriots’ big lead led to a continous clock in the fourth quarter on the TSSAA mercy rule. Henry County’s 5-1 scoring edge made the final score 67-23.

Chipman led the Lady Patriots’ scoring list with 14 points, including four 3-point baskets. Pack contributed 11 points while Elaina Wood scored 10. Humphreys and Hudson both scored nine points while Smith tossed in seven. Ta’Mya Easley hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter while Ella Bomar and Averie O’Daniel scored two points each in the contest.

Kenwood got five points from Jalean Blackman. Scoring four points each were Dantesha Brandt, Patricia Tyler and Emoni Wimberly. Shaleyia Townsend, Nevach Tharpe and Tamaria Arnold all scored two points.

LADY PATRIOTS 75,

LADY BULLDOGS 27

Henry County started Saturday’s game against Milan on fire. The Lady Patriots raced out to a 22-4 lead with Chipman, Pack, Hudson and Smith all sinking 3-pointers in the first quarter.

The hot shooting continued in the second period as Henry County outscored Milan 25-9 to capture a 47-13 halftime edge. Wood poured in nine points in the second quarter, including a 3-point basket.

A 13-3 scoring advantage in the third frame gave Henry County a 60-16 lead. Hudson, Bomar and Abby Grace Alton all hit 3-point shots in the third period.

Despites the mercy rule kicking in during the fourth period, Henry County managed a 15-11 scoring run to finish with a 75-27 victory. Alton scored five points for the Lady Patriots in the last frame, including her second 3-point basket.

Eleven players scored points for Henry County led by Hudson with 15 points and three 3-point baskets. Wood finished with 11 points while Chipman, Alton and Bomar all scored eight. Humphrey chipped in six points while Pack and Smith both hit for five points. O’Daniel tossed in four points with Lydia Bell hitting a 3-point shot and Avery Cox scored two points.

Henry County made a dozen 3-point shots in the game.

Milan was led in scoring by De’Aja Simmons  and Iyanna Hall with seven points each. Kate Parr and Madison Johnson both scored four points. Jerika Porter hit for three points while Atiya Burns scored two.