Offense disappears as Lady Hornets fall
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 3, 2007
WAVERLY — The Coal Grove Lady Hornets were finally going north, but their offense went south.
The Lady Hornets were still basking in their first sectional championship in 24 years when they faced the Alexander Lady Spartans Wednesday in the Division III district semifinals.
But the offense didn’t come with the Lady Hornets as they shot just 28 percent in a 53-36 loss.
Leading scorers Chelsea Markins and Samantha Hall have been scoring nearly 40 points a game this season between them, but they managed only 5 points on 1-for-18 shooting from the field.
“When wished would would have shot the ball a lot better. The girls scrapped and played hard, but when your top two kids have been scoring 35 points a game over the last two years
don’t score, it’s hard to win,” Lady Hornets coach Nick Miller said.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t score the way we can. But give credit to (Alexander). They had to have something to do with it. You can’t blame it all on our shooting.”
Jordyn Cox seemed to be the only player hitting as she made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points to lead the Lady Hornets. Brittany Harrison had 9 points and 10 rebounds while Hall had 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“Jordyn Cox stepped up and kept us in the game for a while, but then they just took off,” Miller said.
Whitney Smith led Alexander with 13 points. Keilee Guthrie, who was just 4 of 17 from the field, and Jamie Turrill had 12 points each. Alexander was just 18 of 59 from the field.
Harrison’s putback gave Coal Grove a 2-0 lead, but Lauren Raines hit a 3-pointer to put Alexander up 3-2 and the Lady Spartans never trailed again.
After taking an 11-3 lead after one quarter, the Lady Spartans went up 18-5 on a 3-pointer by Smith.
But Coal Grove cut the deficit to 22-14 at the half on a layup by Danielle Carpenter.
Alexander was 10 of 20 from the field in the third quarter in building a 46-27 lead.
Two foul shots by Cox with 4:39 left got Coal Grove within 48-34, but the Lady Hornets could get no closer the rest of the way.
Coal Grove finishes the season 18-5.
“It was a good season, especially for our seniors. We won the league for the second straight year and a sectional title. This group has a nice legacy they have left behind them,” Miller said.