Lady Cyclones reach finals of Carolina Invitational
Published 12:15 pm Tuesday, December 30, 2014
BY C.Y. Peters
From the opening tip it looked as though the Lady Cyclones had met their best competition of the year. But yet again Elizabethton was able to play better then their competition defeating North Foryth (Ga.) 52-32 on Monday night.
North Foryth, a school just outside of Atlanta will an enrollment of over 2,600 kids, was coming off a 20 point victory the night before, but they were no match for the Cyclones pressure defense.
“Our press was good to us again and I think it might of wore on them a little bit,” Elizabethton coach Len Dugger said. “That has been our bread and butter, defending and our press, we did a pretty good job tonight of not giving very many open looks.”
The Lady Cyclones were led again by Kayla Marosites who knocked down five buckets in the first half and finished the night with 19 points. But it was Kelci Marosites that delivered in the closing moments of the game, scoring eight of her 10 points in the final quarter.
Elizabethton also got a standout performance from Megan Pietrowski who finished the night with seven points.
“Megan rebounded really well for us tonight and she really got some timely shots for us,” Dugger said.
The game was close in the third quarter as North Foryth climbed within 32-26 with just 14 seconds left in the period. But an 18-6 final quarter by ‘Betsy sealed up their second victory of the tournament.
The teams were even in size and both were very fast, but Betsy scored ten quick points to open the second and pulled out to a 19-9 lead.
The Cyclone press and double teaming of the ball was a big problem for the Raiders as they only scored four points in the second quarter. The Lady Cyclones were led in the quarter by Emily Kiser who hit a big three an added a lay up to finish up a 14 point quarter for ‘Betsy.
The Raiders came out ready to play in the third quarter and outscored Betsy 13-10.
Next up for Elizabethton will be a 2 p.m. contest in the championship game against Hoover (Ala.). The Lady Bucs will be one of the best teams that the Lady Cyclones have seen since the state tournament, according to Dugger.
But that doesn’t mean that ‘Betsy will be lacking in confidence.
“I think our kids feel like no matter what gym we play in or where we go, that they will play and do things the way that they know they can do,” Dugger said. “They feel confident that they can play with a lot of people.”
Elizabethton 10 14 10 18 — 52
North Foryth 9 4 13 6 — 32
Elizabethton : Ka. Marosites 19, Ke. Marosites 10, Robinson 8, Pietrowski 7, Kiser 6, Perry 2, Montgomery 2.
North Foryth : Corless 12, Ogboyu 7, Griddle 3, Bown 3, Jones 3, Palmer 2, Ware 2.
