1-12-11 —    The Monticello Lady Trojans met 12th Region foe Boyle County, last 

Thursday at Mercer County HS Gym in the final round of the Lady  

Titans Christmas Clash.

    Monticello entered the match-up with a 5-6 record, coming off a 

66-39 third round loss to Central. The Lady Rebels owned a 3-7 mark  

and were looking for their first win of the tournament after dropping  

decisions to Pineville 61-44, Lexington Catholic 72-42 and Wayne County.

    Freshman guard Mariah Hughes netted a game high 18 points with a game high 10 rebounds, plus tallied 3 assists, as Monticello claimed  

a 50-41 win.

    Hughes shot an impressive 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 from the 

free throw line, with 6 deflections in 30 minutes of action.

    "Mariah really played well again and I really like the consistency 

in her game. Both Mariah and Malesha shot the ball pretty well from  

the field. Boyle County has a tough basketball team, so this was a  

good and close game throughout. We never quit and battled back  

several times, so I thought we responded to the challenge pretty  

well," said Monticello head coach Marla Kelsch.

    Malesha Hughes finished 3 of 5 from the field and tallied on 6 of 12 

free throws to post 12 points, with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

    "Malesha just missed having a double-double and I think her and 

Mariah played with as much consistency as anyone on the team. We  

missed her in the opening game with sickness, so hopefully she's  

getting back to full strength and really played solid in this game,"  

said Kelsch.

    Tiara Duncan added her best of the week with 8 points, 3 rebounds 

and 2 assists, in 21 minutes of action.

    "Tiara played much better in this game and made some clutch buckets, 

plus our bench play was much better as well, Whitney stepped in and  

played well and I also thought Tyra made some clutch free throws to  

put the game away. We really challenged our bench the day before, so  

their play was a big plus," said Kelsch.

    Whitney Watkins netted 4 points and 2 rebounds, while Tyra Barnett 

contributed 2 points. Cortney Morrow finished with 4 points and a  

game high 6 assists, while Autumn Bell tallied 8 rebounds, 3 steals  

and 2 points, as seven different Lady Trojans scored in the win.

    Boyle County, which dropped to 3-8, was led by the 13 points of 

Chelsea Gill. Gill totaled 5 field goals and made 3 of 4 free throws,  

while Hannah Harris and Michaela Mulligan finished with 7 points  

each, as seven different Lady Rebels scored in the contest.



    Monticello opened the game strong with a 16-10 lead, paced by the 6 

points of Mariah Hughes and 5 points of Tiara Duncan.

    The Lady Trojans pushed to their largest lead of the game at 24-13,, 

with 3:53 left in the first half, before Boyle County answered back  

with a 9-1 spurt to end the quarter, to leave the score at 25-22. The  

Lady Rebels had six different scorers in the half, while Monticello  

was led by the 8 points of Mariah Hughes.

    Hughes led all players with 8 more points in the third frame, as the 

Lady Trojans used a 12-10 tilt, to push to a 37-32 advantage.

    "This was a real close one from the end of the first through the 

final buzzer, which is the type of game that should help us down the  

road. I was proud of the way we battled through some adversity and  

made the plays to win," said Kelsch.

    Monticello converted on 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch and 

used a 13-19 edge, to claim a 50-41 win. Boyle County had some  

opportunities late, but missed 5 of 10 free throws in the final quarter.

    The Lady Rebels finished 16 of 44 overall from the field for 36 

percent and tallied on 3 of 15 3-pointers for 20 percent and totaled  

17 points, which the Lady Trojans converted into 12 points.

    Monticello shot 17 of 46 from the field for 37 percent and marked on 

1 of 14 3-pointers for 7 percent. The squad tallied on 15 of 23 free  

throws for 65 percent and totaled 15 assists with 10 steals, against  

22 turnovers.

    The winners enjoyed a huge advantage on the backboards, as 

Monticello claimed a 37-18 rebound edge.

    "We didn't shoot the ball extremely well especially from three and 

had too many turnovers, but we did some other things pretty well,  

like rebound the basketball. To have a chance to win the All "A"  

Region or compete for our district we must attack the glass with that  

type of effort," said Kelsch.

    The Lady Trojans return to district action this week, hosting 

Southwestern on Tuesday and Wayne County on Friday night.

    "Both of those games are very tough match ups, but we are excited to 

be playing back at home. That should help, after so many games on the  

road," said Kelsch.

    Details on both games in next week's edition of The Outlook.