Shannon Hutchinson, Sports Writer
Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans hosted cross-town rival Wayne County last
Friday night at MHS Gym, in an important 48th District match-up for both
teams. The Lady Trojans entered with a 0-2 mark and were coming off a
disappointing 72-45 home loss to Southwestern earlier in the week. The Lady
Cards owned a 0-3 mark and also were coming off a disappointing home loss
earlier in the week, a 60-28 decision to Lincoln County. The teams met three
times last season, with each team winning at home during the regular season
and Wayne County claiming a 52-38 opening round district tourney win, in the
rubber match on February 24, earlier in 2009.
Wayne County led most of the way and enjoyed a 49-41 advantage with 5:30
left in the ballgame, but Monticello refused to go away and connected on a
perfect 11 of 11 free throws down the stretch, sparking a 17-5 run, en route
to a 58-54 home win. The Lady Trojans were paced by the game high 24 points
of freshman forward Malesha Hughes, to pick up the home win.
Hughes finished 8 of 12 from the field, 8 of 9 from the free throw line
and grabbed 9 rebounds, in just under 27 minutes of play.
"Malesha just needs more games under her belt to be a more consistent
player. I think she'll have more great games like this one, but as a first
year varsity player she'll also have some tough nights where she struggles.
I thought she really followed the game plan well and executed. We just hope
she can build on this to become a more consistent player," said Monticello
head coach Marla Kelsch.
Junior guard Cortney Morrow added 11 points with a game high 8 assists,
while Autumn Bell sparked the reserves with 9 points and 5 boards off the
bench.
"We bounced back several times during the game and that was a big key. A
couple times they pushed the lead out, but our kids stayed focused and
remained calm. We also shot our free throws extremely well, but that's
something we continue to work on in practice. To only miss four all night
and those misses were in the first half, so that was big," said Kelsch.
Lacey Alley posted 7 points with 11 rebounds, as seven different Lady
Trojans scored in the win.
Wayne County, which dropped to 0-4 on the season, placed two scorers in
double digits, led by the 18 points and 9 rebounds of freshman guard Jessica
Hardin. Hardin shot 3 of 10 from the field and 11 of 15 from the free throw
line, in just under 29 minutes of play.
"I really thought we played pretty well for almost 30 minutes, but we
just didn't finish the game out. This was our best effort of the season and
I thought we were able to do some things pretty well. The disappointing
thing is we worked so hard to be in a position to win, but didn't," said
Lady Cards head coach Tim Pyles.
Junior guard Kayla Bowlin returned to the lineup, after missing the
previous two games and responded with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists,
in just under 32 minutes of play. Hallie Gillespie posted 8 points with 7
boards and TaShea Pyles finished with 6 points, as six different Lady Cards
etched the scoring column.
"We made some big shots, they made some big shots, I really thought it
came down to free throws. Give Monticello credit they made theirs down the
stretch and we didn't capitalize on all of our opportunities. We missed 12
free throws for the game and that's way too many," said Pyles.
Kayla Bowlin led all players with 8 points in the opening quarter, as
Wayne County battled to take a 14-10 lead. Malesha Hughes led three
different hosts that scored with 5 points, in the frame.
The Lady Cards used the 12 first half points of Jessica Hardin and made
8 of 11 free throws in the second stanza, to offset the 11 points of Hughes,
to take a 14-13 tilt, which left the halftime score at 28-23.
Four different Monticello players scored in the third quarter, led by
the 5 points each of Cortney Morrow and Lacey Alley, as a 14-12 surge closed
the gap to 40-37, after 24 minutes.
Wayne County pushed the lead out to 8 points on two occasions at 45-37
and 49-41, but a scoring drought of over three minutes was just the opening
the Lady Trojans needed.
Malesha Hughes totaled 11 points in the final minutes and Monticello
converted on 14 of 14 free throw attempts in the second half, with 11 of
those coming in the fourth quarter, en route to a 21-14 period edge, to take
a 58-54 win.
Tiara Duncan finished with 3 points, while Whitney Watkins and Miranda
Perkins contributed 2 points each for the winners.
Kourtney Criswell totaled 4 points and Samantha Sexton chipped in with
2, to round-out the Lady Cards in the scoring column.
Wayne County, which enjoyed a 36-29 rebound advantage, shot 16 of 46
overall from the field for 35 percent and connected on 5 of 22 3-pointers
for 23 percent. The Lady Cards made 17 of 29 free throws for 59 percent and
totaled 9 assists, against 15 turnovers.
The Lady Trojans countered with 18 of 43 shooting overall for 42 percent
and that included a 2 of 12 effort from behind the arc for 17 percent. The
squad drained 20 of 24 free throws for 83 percent and totaled 15 assists,
against 16 turnovers.
Up next for Monticello is a very busy three game week with road games at
Pulaski County and McCreary Central, before a Saturday afternoon home date
with Henry Clay.
"We have a very challenging week ahead, but that's just the way of the
schedule. I don't like playing three games in a week this close to the
holiday tournaments, but I like that our schedule allows us to play
competition. We played Henry Clay in a tournament last year and it was a
good game, so we decided to add them, plus we have two tough road games.
This week will test our team," said Kelsch.
Up next for Wayne County was a Saturday game with Green County.
Details on that game in a related story inside this edition of The
Outlook.