Lady Indians defend to win Ridgeland tourney

Area roundup

From Staff Reports

Murray County’s girls basketball team shut down Ridgeland’s offense on Saturday night and, after winning three straight games, the Lady Indians’ confidence should be moving up.

The Lady Indians beat the Lady Panthers 55-29 in the final game of Ridgeland’s Thanksgiving tournament, finishing up a 3-0 run in round-robin play at the event.

In Saturday’s game, the Lady Indians’ half-court, man-to-man scheme limited Ridgeland to two points in the first quarter and four in the fourth.

“The defensive effort was just amazing,” Lady Indians coach Traci Rankin said. “And rebounding was also key. The girls did really well tonight, so I was just very proud of them.”

Brittney Spence led the way with 10 rebounds to go with 13 points in a double-double effort, while Tember Marchant added 12 points and Cayla Brock eight.

Ridgeland’s Shakiyla McLin scored a game-high 16 points.

Murray County (3-1) returns to action along with the boys team on Dec. 9 when they host Woodland-Bartow in the teams’ Region 7-4A opener.

• Ridgeland boys 61, Murray County 54: In another tourney game, Garrick Sanford had 17 points and five assists and Tanner Long 17 points and six rebounds, but the Indians suffered their first loss in four games to start the season.

“We played neck-and-neck throughout the first half and were down five at halftime,” Indians coach Greg Linder said. “We had trouble executing in the third quarter — the big factor was that we were outscored 17-8 in the third quarter, but we fought back to cut it to nine.”

Murray County was never able to overcome the athleticism of the Panthers (2-0).

“We found out we’ve got a lot to work on,” Linder said. “Especially with someone with the size and quickness of Ridgeland, they’re disciplined and athletic and we didn’t attack like we needed to.”

• Paideia boys 63, Dalton 49: The Catamounts dropped their season opener — a fill-in contest in a tournament at Jonesboro’s Mt. Zion High — struggling on offense before finding a bit more rhythm in the second half.

Dalton’s Shaquon Moore led the Cats with 19 points, while Caz Cole added 12 and Kelly Phillips eight, but there were few bright spots.

“I’ll sum the whole thing up,” Dalton coach Mike Duffie said. “We shot 34 percent from the floor, and that includes missing 27 shots in the lane. You tell me how you’re going to beat anybody doing that? And we were also 9-for-17 from the free throw line.”

However, Duffie called the game a good experience because he expects the sizable, athletic lineup Paideia (1-1) featured to be typical of Region 7-4A play this season, which starts for the Cats on Dec. 9 against South Paulding.

“We’re in a new world,” the coach said. “We’ve got to get used to it in a hurry.”

• Dalton girls 48, Admore, Ala., 45: Annalee Houston’s 3-pointer with five seconds remaining saved the Lady Catamounts from an 0-2 start to the season and a missed opportunity in a game they led 32-16 at halftime.

Admore took advantage at the free throw line in the second half, during which four of Dalton’s starters fouled out, to rally and take the lead with about a minute remaining, Dalton coach Jeff McKinney said.

Dalton regained the lead when Kate Houston and April Besley each went 1-for-2 from the free throw line inside the final minute, but Admore also had the ball with 30 seconds to play and was winding down for the final shot before the Lady Cats (1-1) forced a turnover.

“We were penetrating to the goal, but they double- or triple-teamed Emily Broadrick, who was the only starter left in the game,” McKinney said. “She kicked back out to Annalee and she hit the 3-pointer.”

Kate Houston finished with 11 points as Dalton survived a rough final quarter and a half in their final day at the Martin Methodist Classic in Pulaski, Tenn.

“I was real pleased with how the girls did not fold and hung in to win the ballgame,” McKinney said. “It would have been very easy to look out and say, ‘We’ve got four starters out, who’s going to take control?’”

• Athens, Ala., girls 44, Dalton 35: Broadrick scored 11 points and Kate Houston added nine, but the Lady Cats came up short in their season opener, a Friday game at the Martin Methodist Classic.

Dalton led 8-2 early in the game, but struggled against the zone defense of Athens — a state finalist last year in Alabama, McKinney said — and shot just 22 percent from the field while also going 3-for-13 at the free throw line.

Lacresha Horton, a Division I prospect, finished with 27 points for Athens, which was 6-0 before losing during Saturday’s action.

Wrestling

• Murray County finished third among 12 teams at Saturday’s Heritage-Catoosa Duals in Ringgold, winning its pool before suffering back-to-back losses against fellow pool competition winners Soddy-Daisy and Notre Dame of Chattanooga.

The Indians, who improved to 10-5 on the season, won pool duals against Tennessee’s Cordova, 36-35, Rhea County, 51-27, and a makeshift team of junior varsity wrestlers from various schools, 69-6. They lost 47-30 to Soddy-Daisy and 48-27 to Notre Dame in the round-robin championship.

Jake McConathy (285-pound weight class) went 5-0 on the day, with all his victories by pin, while Kolby Youell (152/60) also won all five of his matches at the event. David Miles (140), Heath Lents (145) and David Thornbury (171/89) each went 4-1.