By SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer
Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans hosted 11th Region foe Madison Southern, on
Saturday, February 6 at MHS Gym, in a makeup game that was canceled due to
snow in early December.
The Lady Trojans entered with a 12-10 mark and were coming off a 57-43
win, at Cumberland County a night earlier. The Lady Eagles owned a 6-14
record and were coming off a 60-48 win over Richmond Model, earlier in the
week.
The teams last met in Berea on December 6 of 2008 , with Monticello
claiming a 67-35 win.
Senior forward Lacey Alley scored a game high 23 points, grabbed 6
rebounds, plus tallied 3 assists, as Monticello used a 37-16 second half
run, en route to a 65-33 win. Alley shot 7 of 13 from the field, with 4
3-pointers and connected on 5 of 6 free throws, plus totaled 2 blocks with 2
steals, as the Lady Trojans notched their third straight win.
"Lacey really shot the ball well from 3-point range and had a really
nice all around game. This was another game that we just didn¹t come out
ready to play in the first half. We were very relaxed and didn¹t play with
the focus needed. I think we had the mind set of we could just show up and
that¹s certainly not the case. We have to start playing a full game, or that
will haunt us soon enough," said MHS head coach Marla Kelsch.
A bright spot for the Lady Trojans was the bench play, which totaled 28
points, led by the duo of Autumn Bell and Maggie Hopper. Bell tallied 9
points and 3 rebounds, while shooting a perfect 4 of 4 from the field, in 13
minutes of play. Hopper, a 5-9 senior forward, connected on 4 of 5 field
goal attempts to net a season high 8 points.
"Maggie has really played well off the bench of late and has been a real
spark for our team. Autumn had a big fourth quarter and I thought she did
all the little things well. Both Maggie and Autumn had great shooting
efforts," said Kelsch.
Cortney Morrow added a steady effort in the win. The junior guard
contributed 6 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, while Jackie Anderson
finished with 5 points. Malesha Hughes posted 4 points with 6 rebounds,
while Tiara Duncan and Tyra Burnette scored 3 points each.
"We had a lot of different people step up and do some good things, but
we need to come out with the right intensity early," said Kelsch.
Burnette added 7 rebounds, while Mariah Hughes grabbed a game high 8
boards with 2 points. Senior Brittney Crabtree added 2 points with 3
assists, as 10 different Lady Trojans scored in the win.
Madison Southern, which dropped to 6-15 , was led by the 14 points and 4
rebounds of Tosha Boggs. Boggs shot 7 of 10 from the field, but battled
foul-problems throughout the game, before fouling out in the third quarter.
"Madison Southern did some good things defensively in the first half,
before we adjust and made some changes. Boggs is a really nice post player
and her foul-problems hurt their chances," said Kelsch.
Mary Mullins added 9 points, in 29 minutes of action, as five different
Lady Eagles scored in the contest.
"They are young in some spots and rebuilding, so it was disappointing
that we didn¹t come out strong," said Kelsch.
Lacey Alley opened with 8 points in the first quarter, to offset the 8
points of Tosha Boggs, as Monticello opened 5 of 16 from the field, to take
a 12-8 lead.
Five different Lady Trojans scored in the second period, as the hosts
used a 16-9 tilt, to push to 28-17 halftime advantage.
"We really challenged our team at halftime to pickup the intensity and
start playing the way they are capable. We need to play like we enjoy the
game and play hard," said Kelsch.
Maggie Hopper totaled 6 points in the third frame and Monticello used a
20-12 edge, to open up a 48-29 lead, after 24 minutes.
Autumn Bell led all players with 9 points in the fourth quarter, as the
hosts used a 17-4 run, to cruise to a 65-33 win, to improve to 13-10, on the
season.
Madison Southern shot 14 of 46 overall for 30 percent and tallied on 1
of 16 3-pointers for 6 percent. The 11th Region squad connected on 4 of 6
free throws for 67 percent and totaled 25 turnovers, which Monticello
converted into 18 points.
The Lady Trojans made 24 of 61 field goal attempts for 39 percent and
marked on 7 of 22 3-pointers for 32 percent. The squad connected on 10 of 15
free throw attempts for 67 percent and totaled 14 assists with 8 steals,
against 17 turnovers.
Up next for the squad was another out of region trip to 13th Region foe
North Laurel.
"North Laurel has a very good team and is one of the better teams in
their region, so we¹ll have to play with a lot more intensity then we did
either game we played this weekend," said Kelsch.