S. Greene defense overwhelms Lady Rangers
Published 10:10 pm Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The defensive pressure of the No. 4 South Greene Lady Rebels was too much for Unaka to overcome as they dropped the contest 71-38 on Tuesday night in Stoney Creek.
“We did a lot of good things,” Unaka coach Kenneth Chambers said. “South Greene is a good team, and I feel like we played good with them for a half. We left them open too many times, and they shot the ball really well in the second half. Hats off to them.”
Unaka junior Hannah Tipton contributed 20 of the Lady Rangers’ 38 points.
“She played really good and stepped up,” Chambers said.
During the second quarter, the Lady Rangers were able to tie the game at 20 off a Katlyn Weaver layup with 3:52 remaining. However, the Lady Rebels were able go on a 13-5 run to end the half up 33-25.
Perhaps a bigger blow in the second quarter was when senior Cheyenne Drew was knocked out of the game with a bloody nose. She tried to come back in the quarter but was unable to play.
“Cheyenne getting hurt didn’t help the matter,” Chambers said. “But they are a good team. We have to learn to play a little tougher, when teams play tough against us we have to play tough back. And for half the game, I thought we did; the second half I thought they pushed around a little bit and we let them get the best of us.
“We have to learn to be able to, when we get pushed, to push back. We have to play to the way the game is being called — be physical but without being dirty.”
South Greene would never look back, outscoring Unaka 14-4 during the third quarter to balloon their lead to 47-29.
In the final quarter, the Lady Rebels started the quarter on a 6-0 behind two three-pointers from Ashton Wykle. A layup and a foul by Hannah Tipton put the Lady Rangers on the scoreboard with just over six minutes remaining on the clock. They went on to outscore the Lady Rangers 18-9 in the final frame.
During the first quarter, things started off shaky for the Lady Rangers as they weren’t able to get past the South Greene full court press. But they were able to settle down and go into the second period down just 16-14.
The Lady Rangers got six points from Sierra Wright and five points from Sarah Tipton. The Lady Rebels had four players in double digits with Peyton Williams leading the way with 16 points. Wykle finished with 13, while Lyndsey Cutshaw had 12 and Katie-Lynn Franklin finished the night with 10.
BOX
South Greene 16 17 14 24 71
Unaka 14 11 4 9 38
South Greene — Williams 16, A. Wykle 13, Cutshaw 12, Franklin 10, Lamb 8, K. Wykle 5, Schmoltz 4, Jones 3.
Unaka — H. Tipton 20, Wright 6, S. Tipton 5, Burke 3, Austin 2, Weaver 2.
