Lady Cyclones lose grip on Lady ‘Toppers late falling 62-47
Published 8:36 am Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Kaylen Shell is focused on the basket for Elizabethton.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Lady Cyclone McKendra Norris drives the paint against the Science Hill defense.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Lady Cyclone guard point guard Torrie Roberts lets a three-point attempt fly in Friday’s game.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton’s Kelsie Winters pulls up for a one-hand jumper against the Lady ‘Toppers.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Kelsie Winters of Elizabethton is harassed by a Science Hill defender while working the basketball into the front court for the Lady Cyclones.
The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones have taken it on the chin during the season collecting only two wins to this point, but if Friday night was any indication of where the team is now compared to where they started, it could be an interesting conclusion to their regular season.
Getting off to a rough start, the Lady Cyclones battled back from 11-point deficits on a couple of occasions to take the lead at one point before Science Hill did what the Lady ‘Toppers do the best and that was to turn defense into offense in taking a 62-47 win.
Playing their game
The Lady Cyclones for three quarters managed to do what their coach had preached in practice and that was to turn the contest into a half-court game and make the Lady ‘Toppers have to play out of their comfort zone of turning a smothering defense into a fast-paced offense.
Science Hill managed to hold the lead up until the third quarter but the frustration was evident on the faces of the Lady ‘Toppers who were made to work for every point.
Taking the lead
Elizabethton finally got the run needed to turn a 28-22 halftime deficit into a 36-35 lead heading into the final period after going on a 14-7 spurt coming out of the locker room.
The lead would build to 4 points before Science Hill finally forced the Lady Cyclones into some miscues that led to easy baskets at the Lady ‘Topper end of the court.
Most of those Science Hill points came off the hands of an athletic Alasia Smith who scored 21 points in the contest to push her career total to 1,000 points.
By the books
Kaylen Shell and Morgan Headrick took their team under their wings trying to will the Lady Cyclones to a win by scoring 15 and 14 points respectively.
Torrie Roberts had a big hand in the game as well for Elizabethton handling the Science Hill press and finding an open teammate and taking the opportunity to score 9 points when an open shot presented itself.
McKendra Norris showed no fear in attacking the rim going against the taller Lady ‘Toppers to record 5 points.
Kelsie Winters and Cheyenne VanHuss closed out the scoring by recording 2 points apiece.
Aside from Smith’s 21 points, Jeila Greenlee tossed in 13 points with Erin Egerbrecht totaling 10 points to pace Science Hill.
What the coach had to say
“The practice that we had yesterday was one of the worst that we have had in a while,” said Lady Cyclone head coach Lucas Andrews. “And I said that has got to be a sign because we have had all these good practices before that one.
“This morning when I woke up, I thought that we had a chance to win this game. The effort that we gave, we have not given that much effort.
“I knew we had it. I just told them that’s the expectation that we have now. The girls executed our game plan and sold out on it. If some things go our way, it could have been a different story.”
