It was a tight second half for the McClain Lady Tigers and coach Jarrod Haines Monday night at Greenfield-McClain High School, but they pulled through against the Jackson Iron Ladies thanks to a strong defense and top scorer Makenzie Montavon.
The Tigers were first to have the ball and first to score, but the Iron Ladies put up an iron defense in the first quarter, keeping McClain at a 9-point gain while scoring 11 for themselves.
Jackson kept the lead in the second quarter, gaining 7 points and keeping McClain at only 1.
By the half, Jackson was up with a total score of 18-10.
McClain came back to life in the third quarter with a flurry of 2-point shots from Beth Montgomery, taking the lead from Jackson with an 8-point gain over Jackson’s 5, bringing the total score to 26-23 with the Lady Tigers ahead.
McClain pushed hard against the Iron Ladies in the fourth quarter, keeping Jackson’s gain at 8 while scoring 9 for themselves.
The final score was 35-30.
Makenzie Montavon led scoring for the Lady Tigers with 13 points.
“We have leadership and you could tell,” Haines said. “They really brought it in that third quarter.”
Lynchburg-Clay beats Washington Lady Blue Lions 71-58
The Lady Mustangs started and finished strong Monday night against the Washington Lady Blue Lions, reining in a 71-58 win.
Lynchburg-Clay raced out to a 30-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was an uphill climb for the Lady Lions after that.
Washington outscored Lynchburg-Clay 15-11 in the second quarter with the Mustangs taking a 41-25 lead at the halftime break.
It was another substantial scoring quarter for the Mustangs in the third, as they scored 25 to 18 for Washington.
Lynchburg-Clay led 66-43 at the end of three quarters of play.
Washington was able to cut into that 23-point lead and whittle it down to 13 points at the end with a 15-5 fourth quarter effort.
The final score gave the Mustangs their second win of the season at 71-58.
Lynchburg-Clay was led by sophomore Peyton Scott with 21 points.
“Our returning kids know how to play basketball and know how to win,” Lynchburg-Clay coach Whitney Lewis said. “We don’t have a lot of size, but we’re quick. They were able to get the ball inside on us a little more than we would have liked them to. We controlled the tempo, which was a big part of the game. We like to give the other team a lot of looks on defense. We’re short, so we have to have a different way to battle.”
Hillsboro loses to Fayetteville 55-47
The Hillsboro Lady Indians had a close first half against the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets girls team Monday night, but lost its grip on the lead in the second half.
The first quarter saw Hillsboro make a 10-point gain against Fayetteville’s 11, then Hillsboro took a 1-point lead over the Rockets in the second quarter by gaining 11 points to Fayetteville’s 9.
By the half, the total score had Hillsboro ahead 21-20.
Things started to slip for the Lady Indians in the third quarter when Fayetteville cruised ahead with a 19-point gain, keeping Hillsboro at 8 points. The third quarter finished out with the Rockets ahead 39-29.
In the final quarter, Hillsboro fought hard with an 18-point gain against Fayetteville’s 16 points, but it wasn’t enough to make up for their performance in the third quarter.
The game ended with the Rockets on top 55-47.
Top scorer Natalie Sullivan led the Lady Indians with 12 points, and Kelsey Burns gained 11 points for the team.
“We’ve got to do a better job at taking care of the basketball,” said coach JR Moberly. “We had too many turnovers. But we did a lot of good things. There were a lot of contributions from a lot of the kids. We have a lot of good things to build on tonight.”
David Wright is the sports editor for the Times-Gazette. He can be reached at 937-402-2570.
