Lady Cyclones use second-half push to dispatch Happy Valley
Published 8:12 pm Friday, January 26, 2018
- Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Happy Valley's Kaitlyn Roberts goes up for a layup while Elizabethton's Kaylen Shell (24) and Abbey Townsend attempt a block.
Despite holding the lead after the first, the Happy Valley Lady Warriors couldn’t escape John Treadway Gym with a win as Elizabethton scooted to a 56-40 Three Rivers Conference victory.
“Happy Valley is a good team, and they are well coached,” said Elizabethton head coach Lucas Andrews after Friday’s game. “They have great shooters and great players who rebound the ball really well.
“I think what helped us is when they started pressuring, we executed our press offense,” Andrews added. “Attacked the foul line and we got easy layups. We have been preaching that for a few weeks now and it showed up tonight.”
Elizabethton’s Camryn Koroma and Kaylen Shell had 16 points apiece to lead the Lady Cyclones, while teammate Morgan Headrick finished the contest with 14.
After one, the Lady Warriors held an 8-4 lead. The Lady Cyclones opened the second frame with a seven-point run that saw EHS’s Camryn Koroma and Morgan Headrick hit back-to-back buckets before Lady Cyclone Destiny Little hit a 3-pointer to move EHS out ahead 11-8. The lead, however, didn’t last long as Happy Valley’s Kaitlyn Roberts answered with a trifecta of her own to tie things up 11-11. Koroma found the net again to push EHS back out before Roberts was good again from long range to jump Happy Valley up 14-13. The game knotted up at 15-15. Down the first half stretch, the Lady Cyclones outscored Happy Valley 5-3 to take a 20-18 lead into the half.
Happy Valley’s Adrienne Henegar opened up the second half with a 3-pointer before Happy Valley’s Haley Green knocked down a foul shot to give the Lady Warriors a 22-20 lead. Elizabethton’s Koroma was good on a short jumper that sparked an 11-2 run that saw six points from Koroma and five points from Shell as EHS took a 31-24 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. A steal and bucket by Happy Valley’s Olivia Absher cut EHS’s lead to 31-27 before the Lady Cyclones outscored Happy Valley 8-2 in the final minute to take a 38-29 lead into the fourth.
A bucket-and-one from Headrick and a layup from Koroma push EHS out to a 45-29 lead with six minutes left in the game.The Lady Cyclones ultimately outscored Happy Valley 18-11 in fourth to roll out to a win.
For Happy Valley, Henegar finished with 16 points while Lady Warriors Roberts had 12.
