Lady Trojans pound Madison Southern 67-35

Shannon Hutchinson, Sports Writer

Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans met 11th Region foe Madison Southern last Saturday night at Berea College Monticello entered with a 2-0 mark and was coming off a 73-44 win over McCreary Central, a night earlier. The Lady Eagles opened the season with a 56-48 loss at Lee County but followed that up with a 50-40 win at Pulaski County to own a 1-1 record. The Lady Trojans last traveled to Madison County nearly a year ago and claimed the championship of Southern's Lady Eagle Holiday Classic. Monticello opened the game with a 21-9 run and never looked back, winning every quarter en route to a 67-35 win. Raven Frost, a 6-1 senior center, posted a triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and a school record 13 blocks, to post there Lady Trojans in double digits. Frost shot 5 of 10 from the field and 6 of 12 from the free throw line, in 24 minutes of play. "This was another good team effort and I was really pleased with the way we came out of the gate. We were able to force some turnovers, make some shots and get a lot of people into the game. Raven was very active on both ends of the floor and to post a tripple-double is such an achievement. Her ability to block shots really makes things difficult on other teams," said Monticello head coach Marla Kelsch. Leandra Brown led all scores with 16 points and posted her third straight double-double of the season, with 10 rebounds. Brown, also a 6-1 senior, connected on 5 of 10 field goal attempts and 6 of 12 free throws, while senior reserve Kristie Rigney added a career high 10 points. Rigney lossed a career best 12 minutes and made 4 of 4 field goal attempts, with a 3-pointer and a free throw, to lead all reserves. "Kristie had really good off season and has worked on her game. She's always been a good shooter when she can spot-up, but other parts of her game have improved. We need her to step in and provide some minutes, but give Kristie credit she hit some nice shots," said Kelsch. Senior guard Jordan Hensley had a solid stat-line in the win. Hensley totaled 9 points, a game high 8 assists, plus tallied 5 steals with 3 rebounds. "Jordan has had back to back nice games. She's an unselfish player passing the basketball and on defense her knack for finding and being around the ball is unreal. Defensively she just has a good court understanding of what the other team is trying to do," said Kelsch. Lacey Alley posted 8 points and 6 rebounds, before fouling-out, while Cortney Morrow contributed 6 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. Madison Southern, which dropped to 1-2, was led by the 9 points of senior guard Liz Hogwood. Hogwood totaled 3 field goals and made 2 of 4 free throws, while Brooke Casteal finished with 8 points, all in the second half. Six different Lady Eagles scored in the contest, as the squad was plagued by 25 percent shooting for the night. "Madison Southern has a pretty experienced team that starts two seniors and a junior. I thought our preserve set the tone early and we established a good lead, then was able to work on things in the half court. We also subbed quite a bit to try to keep some people fresh, plus get some of the younger players some valuable varsity time," said Kelsch. Leandra Brown and Jordan Hensley combined for 12 points in the opening minutes, as Monticello raced to a 21-9 early lead. Five different Lady Trojans netted 2 points each in the second stanza, as the local squad used a 10-4 tilt to move to a 31-13 halftime advantage. Southern struggled to shoot the basketball and connected on just 5 of 26 attempts in the first half. Lacey Alley led all players with 6 points in the third frame as Monticello used a 17-16 scoring edge, to own a 48-29 lead after three periods. Brittney Crabtree finished with 3 points, Tiara Duncan chipped in with two points and Jackie Anderson added a point, as the Lady Trojans rolled to an easy 67-35 win. "We finished the week 3-0, which is a great way to start the season. We know things step up this week with our two district road games at Southwestern and Wayne County, plus we have a third road game on Saturday at Model. Hopefully we'll work on the positives and continue to improve as a basketball team,"said Kelsch. Madison Southern finished 14 of 56 overall for 25 percent and tallied on 3-3 pointers, plus shot a dismal 4 of 13 from the charity-stripe for 31 percent. The Lady Eagles were out rebounded 41-39 and finished with 18 turnovers. The Lady Trojans shot 23 of 56 overall for 41 percent and tallied on 4 of 15 treys for 27 percent. The squad made 17 of 31 free throws for 55 percent and totaled 18 assists with 17 steals, against 17 turnovers. Monticello travels to Southwestern on Tuesday, Wayne County on Friday, and end the week at Model on Saturday. Details on all three games in next weeks edition of The Outlook.

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