Lady ‘Landers fall to Huskies
Published 11:42 pm Wednesday, March 2, 2022
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Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Saharra McKinney hits a free throw for Cloudland in the Region 1-1A Championship.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Lady "Lander Saharra McKinney races down court as time was running out on Cloudland late in the game.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Izabella Christman pulls down a rebound for Cloudland Wednesday night at the Region 1-1A tournament.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Cloudland's Katie Baldwin defends against North Greene Wednesday night as the Lady Highlanders faced the Huskies at host Daniel Boone.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Ella Benfield makes a spin move and gets the bucket for Cloudland as she scored 8 points in the fourth period.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Lady 'Lander's Karah Fields puts up a jump shot in the Region 1-1A Tournament Wednesday night.
Star Photo / Brandon Hyde
Cloudland's Karah Fields kicks it back outside as the Lady 'Landers look for a shot against North Greene.
BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
GRAY – A slow first half doomed the Cloudland Lady Highlanders in their Region 1-A girls basketball championship game at Bobby Snyder Gym.
North Greene’s stifling defensive pressure forced the ‘Landers into 2-for-10 shooting from the floor in the first half as Cloudland (20-9) missed its first six free throws and were 1-of-8 from the line.
“You have to make your free throws in a championship game against a good team,” Lady ‘Landers head coach Matt Birchfield said. “Better make them from start to finish and we had to rebound a lot better than we did. (Anderson) whipped us in the paint and we dug ourselves a hole.”
North Greene (24-12) opened with a 9-0 run as Cloudland was unable to find the range from the floor. Senior Kara Fields deuce stopped the bleeding momentarily for the ‘Landers but she had the only two buckets for Cloudland in the half.
Meanwhile, the Lady Huskies were paced by seniors Brooklyn Anderson who had nine first-half points and 11 rebounds, and Shelby Davenport who had eight points.
North Greene took a 21-6 halftime advantage.
Cloudland was able to shave just one point off the Lady Huskies lead by the end of the third quarter and NG went into the final stanza with a 30-16 advantage.
The ‘Landers got it to 35-22 with 4:00 left in regulation and Ella Benfield’s deuce made it a 35-24 deficit.
Benfield was able to connect on another two-pointer but Hailey English added two free throws and North Greene dribbled and passed the remaining time out for the win.
Anderson finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds with Davenport finishing with 11.
Saharra McKinney topped the ‘Landers scorecard with 10 points.
Cloudland must take to the road in the regional contest and will play at Coalfield on Saturday in a sectional contest with a state berth on the line.
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Region 1-A Girls Championship
Bobby Snyder Gym
North Greene
Cloudland (26)
Benfield 8, McKinney 10, Turbyfill 4, Fields 4.
North Greene (37)
English 5, Davenport 11, Wagner 7, Anderson 12, Gaby 2.
Cloudland ……… 3 3 10 10 – 26
North Greene…. 16 5 9 7 – 37
3-point goals: C 1 (McKinney), NG 3 (Davenport 2, Wagner).
All-Tournament team
Cloudland – Ella Benfield, Saharra McKinney, Ryan Turbyfill, Kara Fields
North Greene – Zoe Sanders, Hailey English, Brooklyn Anderson
Unaka – Lyndie Ramsey
Hampton – Madison McClain
MVP – Shelby Davenport – North Greene
