MOUNTAIN CITY— Friday night was the opening game of the 2018-2019 Three Rivers Conference for both the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones and the Johnson County Lady Longhorns.
Even though it was just the start of the conference slate, it was a crucial showdown.
First-half ‘blahs’ for both teams
The first half of the contest saw both teams trying to will the ball through the basket as both struggled to get any offensive rhythm.
Trying to find points was like the new Kentucky Fried Chicken in Mountain City trying to keep enough chicken cooked to fill their customer’s orders as it was a struggle to turn the scoreboard over another click for both benches.
Elizabethton managed to take a 21-20 lead to the locker room as Kaylen Shell popped the cotton for 11 of the 21 points scored by the Lady Cyclones. Abbey Townsend 4 points with Kelsie Winters and Torrie Roberts knocking down a trey apiece.
Taylor Cox kept her team in the game scoring 11 points as well for the Lady ‘Horns. Emmy Miller added 4 points.
Turning it around in the third quarter
It was a completely different look as the second half tipped off as the Lady Cyclones couldn’t buy a basket while the Lady ‘Horns finally got their shots to find the mark to turn the 1-pt deficit into a 39-27 lead heading into the final period of play.
Led by Cox with 7 points and Natalie Winters with 6 points, Johnson County took control of the contest attacking the basket and owning the boards.
Meanwhile, Shell was the workhorse for the Lady Cyclones scoring 5 of the 6 points added to the Elizabethton side of the scoreboard with Roberts hitting 1-of-2 from the foul line.
Closing the game down
With the lead in hand, the Lady ‘Horns did what was needed to secure the win outscoring ‘Betsy 11-8 in the final 8 minutes of action to collect the win.
Cox added six more in the final period to finish as the game-high scorer with 24 points. Miller finished with points while Winters and Taylor Parsons added 7 points each. Sadie Stout (2) and Abby Cornett (1) closed out the scoring for the Lady ‘Horns.
Shell did all she possible could do to shoulder the load for the Lady Cyclones scoring 23 of Elizabethton’s 39 points. Townsend added 5 points with Roberts and Winters finishing with 4 and 3 points respectively for the Lady Cyclones.
Tolley’s take on the contest
“Well, we got a little more confidence in ourselves,” said Lady ‘Horn head coach Leon Tolley of the second half turnaround. “We had a lot of good shots in the first half, we just couldn’t get any to go down.
“I asked the girls what they were comfortable running so we ran what they wanted to in the second half and they did a better job of it.
“Let’s be fair to Lucas (Andrews), they got a player or two out and missed a lot of shots too,” continued Tolley. “We are not that much better than they are, we were just a little bit better tonight.
“As disappointed as I was Tuesday night, I am as proud of our team tonight. Johnson County has beaten Elizabethton as many times as Bigfoot has been seen in my backyard and this is the second time in three games that they have done it and all the credit goes to the players.”
Andrews talks Lady Cyclones
“We have one good game where we do some things right and still came up short, but we played some good competition playing the best in our area right now,” said Elizabethton head coach Lucas Andrews. “People think Johnson County is an automatic win— it’s not an automatic win now especially up here because they play so well.
“They figured out our weakness and settled back in a zone, and we had to make shots and didn’t make the shots from the outside.
“We have to find an inside presence right now,” continued Andrews. “With Morgan (Headrick) out, we have got to have people step up and take up that slack.”
Short turn around
The Lady Cyclones (1-5, 0-1) will have a short couple of days to get ready for another conference foe in the Sullivan East Patriots who will invade Treadway Gym on Tuesday night for a 6:30 pm tipoff.
Johnson Co. (4-2, 1-0) takes on Unaka Monday night on Stoney Creek.