Covered like a blanket… Lady Patriots swarming defense smoothers Jr. Lady Cyclones
Published 12:25 am Wednesday, November 20, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Michelle Shields drives the offense from the top of the key for Coach Matt Fox's Jr. Lady Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Marley Lewis goes up for an outside jump shot against Liberty Bell.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Lady Cyclone Mollie Johnson looks to push the basketball into the middle against the Liberty Bell Lady Patriots.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Lady Cyclone Michelle Shields shows no fear in going inside against the larger Lady Patriot team. Liberty Bell's Kierra Morrow gets a hand on a Shields shot.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Andrea Flores works the basketball into the front court during the T.A. Dugger JV game Monday. The Jr. Lady Cyclone JV won 38-16.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Kalli Shepard goes up for a jump shot in the JV Jr. Lady Cyclones win over Liberty Bell.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
It was easy to see before the game that it was going to be a tall order for the T.A. Dugger Jr. Lady Cyclones to take down the visiting Jr. Lady Patriots from Liberty Bell – literally.
With Liberty Bell using their height advantage and swarming pressure defense, the Lady Patriots were able to easily take care of the Jr. Lady Cyclones winning 43-23 in a game that is always competitive any time the two teams lock up.
Seizing control with a 16-3 first quarter, Liberty Bell took the early air out of the Jr. Lady Cyclones who had shots at the bucket but couldn’t buy a field goal.
Sydney Mains staked the Lady Patriots to the early lead with nine points in the first quarter. Michelle Shields had the only TAD points on a three-pointer.
Liberty Bell continued to maintain their advantage at the break as TAD finally managed to find some success at the basket with the halftime score still in the Lady Patriots favor, 23-10.
Shields added another trey in the quarter while Kayelyn Nave and Marlee Mathena contributed two points each.
The Lady Patriots did enough to hold onto their lead in the third quarter outscoring TAD 9-4 to take a 32-14 going into the final six minutes of play.
With TAD playing the visitors close in the final period, it wasn’t going to be enough as the big first quarter was the turning point of the game.
Mains finished with 17 points to lead Liberty Bell but got plenty of offensive punch from teammates Lexi Green and Kierra Morrow who dropped in 10 points apiece in the win as the three combined for 37 of the 43 Lady Patriot points.
Nave finished with nine points to lead the Jr. Lady Cyclones. Shields and Mathena each collected six points. Abbie Crigger had the final two points for TAD.
Junior Varsity
T.A. Dugger……38
Liberty Bell…….16
In earlier action, the TAD junior varsity girls team managed to gain a split by overwhelming the visiting Lady Patriot junior varsity, 38-16.
Andrea Flores was a wrecking machine as the Jr. Lady Cyclone torched the nets for 18 points. Lillie McDuffie played a huge contributing role hitting for nine points in the game.
Jamira Smalls was a player to be reckoned with in the paint dropping six points from the post position while Aubrey Cole closed out the scoring with five points in the victory.
