Seeing Red(d)… Jr. Lady Cyclones JV drops heartbreaker to Liberty Bell in tourney final
Published 9:16 pm Sunday, January 26, 2020
1 of 11
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Jamira Smalls looks to make a baseline pass around a Liberty Bell defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Lady Cyclone Andrea Flores charges toward the basket between a pair of Liberty Bell defenders. Flores was named to the All-Tournament team.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Kallie Shepard of TAD keeps her head up looking for either an open shot or a teammate under the basket.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Lady Cyclone Peyton McGee drives past the Liberty Bell pressure in Thursday's championship game.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Aubrey Cole battles a Liberty Bell player for possession of the basketball. Cole was named All-Tournament.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lauren Lund looks to put up a trey for the Jr. Lady Cyclones in Thursday's game at Science Hill High School.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Lillie McDuffie tries to duck under the defensive pressure of a Liberty Bell defender.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
JOHNSON CITY – For 13 minutes of the Girl’s JV tournament final on Thursday night at Science Hill High School, the T.A. Dugger Jr. Lady Cyclone JV team was looking pretty good as they built an eight-point advantage over the Liberty Bell Lady Patriots.
However, over the next 11 minutes, all the Jr. Lady Cyclones could see was Red(d) as in Amaya Redd of Liberty Bell who single-handedly took over the game to lead the Lady Patriots back to take the title by a 26-23 final.
Redd scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the final half of play as she brought her team even and then helped them gain the upper hand.
Aubrey Cole scored five of her 11 points in the first half for the Jr. Lady Cyclones to help propel TAD to an 11-6 halftime edge.
Andrea Flores, who has been a scoring machine for most of the season, was flustered by the Lady Patriots whose game plan obviously revolved around shutting Flores down offensively.
She managed just four points in the first half for the Jr. Lady Cyclones and ended the game with eight points.
With Flores being shut down and Redd heating up, it didn’t take long for the tide to turn Liberty Bell’s way in the second half. The Jr. Lady Cyclones never quit fighting as they tried to run a box and one defensively with Flores covering Redd but the Lady Patriot could not be denied.
Cole added two more treys in the second half to finish as the game-high scorer for the Jr. Lady Cyclones followed by Flores with eight. Lillie McDuffie added three points in the contest and Jamira Smalls connected on a free throw for one point.
Redd was named the tournaments MVP for her effort in the championship contest. TAD’s Cole and Flores collected All-Tournament honors after the contest.
“I think that Redd took over and we tried a box and one and hadn’t done that all season so that could have been our fault,” said Jr. Lady Cyclone JV head coach Melenda Perry. “We could have been a little tired because a lot of them played the whole game.”
Perry also commented that with the Lady Patriots effort on Flores, it took the Jr. Lady Cyclone out of her rhythm and bothered her throughout the contest.
“She (Flores) was really upset because she is so used to scoring a lot. I told her that with them double-teaming her to go sit in the corner because that means one less person guarding someone. She tried to play through it but she is really hard on herself.”
The head coach offered a big smile when she talked about how her team really dug in throughout the season and that work translated into them reaching the championship contest.
“I told them that no one deserved to be here more than them because they have been through so much adversity with multiple people getting hurt, they kept getting sick for three days straight,” Perry said. “I am very proud of this team. They have been a fun team to coach and very hard working.
“You can see from the beginning of the season to now how hard they have worked.”
