Clutch foul shooting gives Lady ’Cats win

Published 2:38 am Tuesday, January 20, 2009

With the game on the line, the Green Lady Bobcats went to the line.

Green used some clutch foul shooting to hold off the Fairland Lady Dragons 50-46 Monday in a non-league game.

“We had a good lead and then they made a run at us late, but we were able to hit some clutch free throws. We kept our composure,” said Green coach Dale Royse.

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Abbey Barrett scored six points as Green took a 15-12 first quarter lead. Mackenzie Rucker drained a pair of treys for Fairland.

Adrianne Blankenship got 10 points in the second quarter as the Lady Bobcats opened up a 31-22 halftime lead.

Fairland outscored Green 8-6 in the third quarter as Rucker scored five more points and the Lady Dragons trailed 37-30.

Despite injuring her nose, Blankenship had five points in the fourth quarter including a key 3-pointer.

“She’s just a competitor,” Royse said of Blankenship.

Sashe Burcham came off the bench to score all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter as Fairland closed to within one point.

But Ashlee Runyon sank two three throws to put the lead at three and Gidget Timberman converted two foul shots with six-tenths of a second to play that sealed the outcome.

Green was 5-of-6 from the line down the stretch.

Blankenship finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Lauren Jones had 12 points and 12 rebounds while Barrett had 11 points.

Rucker led Fairland (5-6) with 17 points and four assists.

Green (8-5) hosts Western Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Green 15 16 6 13 = 50

Fairland 12 10 8 16 = 46

GREEN (8-5): Ashlee Runyon 0 0 2-2 2, Adrianne Blankenship 6 1 2-3 17, Lauren Jones 2 0 8-12 12, Abbey Barrett 4 0 3-4 11, Breanna Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Gidget Timberman 1 0 2-2 4, Hannah Collett 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 16-48 17-23 50. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Johnson. 3-point goals: 1-9. Rebounds: 49 (Blankenship 15, Jones 12, Barrett 6, Timberman 5). Assists: 12 (Blankenship 5, Jones 5). Steals: 6 (Blankenship 3). Turnovers: 16.

FAIRLAND (5-6): Stormie Spitzer 1 0 0-0 2, Mackenzie Rucker 2 4 1-4 17, Brianna Day 1 0 0-0 2, Lauren Phillips 2 0 0-0 4, Lauren Fulks 0 0 1-4 1, Shelby Fuller 0 0 0-0 0, Kennon Clarkson 1 0 1-2 3, Sashe Burcham 5 0 0-0 10, Emily McMaster 3 0 1-2 7. Totals: 19-62 4 4-12 46. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-8. Rebounds: 41 (Fulks 11, Phillips 8, Burcham 6, Day 5). Assists: 9 (Rucker 4).