Never overlook the value
of experience and maturity.
Against a bigger,
stronger and older Huntingdon squad, the Gleason Lady
Bulldogs, who often had two sophomores, a freshman and an
eighth-grader on the court simultaneously, held their own
until late in the fourth quarter.
However, when Gleason's
youth was exploited, the result was a game-turning 10-0 run
for the host Huntingdon Fillies in their 48-41 substate
victory over the Lady Dawgs Saturday night.
The loss ended the Lady
Dawgs' hopes of a trip to the TSSAA State Tournament this
week in Murfreesboro and marked the first time in nine tries
that Frazier has lost at the substate level.
"Our youth showed again.
We were down 3 points and then suddenly we were down by 11
points," Gleason head coach Randy Frazier said. "We were
guarding (Crystal) Fuller with an eighth-grader and (Waneka)
Melton with a 5-8 post player, but we gave ourselves a shot
to win."
Gleason trailed the
entire game, but faced only its second double-digit deficit,
31-21, early in the fourth quarter when Fillie Sharri Smith
sank a free throw with 6:19 left in the game. Smith missed
her second charity shot and the rebound caromed out of
bounds to Huntingdon.
Frazier called for a
timeout to rally his squad, and the tactic worked. The Lady
Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 scoring run to go along with
inspired defensive play.
Gleason sophomore Amber
Wiseman put the ball back into the hands of the Lady Dawgs
by drawing a charge from Melton.
On the GHS offensive end
Wiseman was off the mark with an 8-footer but chased down
her miss and put it back up and in for a 31-23 score.
Lady Dawg senior Amy
Suddath and eighth-grader Riley Auvenshine snagged defensive
rebounds on the next two HHS misses. Melton fouled on
Auvenshine's rebound, sending her to the charity stripe.
Auvenshine sank two shots to cut the HHS lead to a half
dozen, 31-25, with 4:48 left.
Freshman Kayla Hudson
next came up with a big play for Gleason, picking off a
Fillie pass. On the ensuing possession, Hudson drove into
the paint and pulled up for an 8-foot jumper to pull GHS to
within 4 points at 31-27.
Huntingdon found an
answering basket in Fuller's tough bank shot off the glass
from the right side of the lane.
Hudson did her one better
by sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key to trim the
Fillies' lead down to 3 points, 33-30, with 3:30 on the
clock.
With excitement rising
among the Gleason faithful, the Fillies quickly dampened the
Weakley Countians' state title dreams.
The Huntingdon girls
utilized their physical attributes to squelch the Lady Dawg
rally.
Fuller followed her own
miss and drew a foul after her offensive rebound. The
Tennessee-Martin signee sank a pair of free throws to extend
the Fillie lead back to 5 points, 35-30.
Working against the HHS
full-court press, Gleason committed three consecutive
turnovers.
With the bigger Fillies
creating a formidable double-team on the baseline, the Lady
Dawgs coughed up the ball and Jessica Hilliard put in an
easy layup for a 37-30 lead at the 3:06 mark.
After the next GHS
turnover, Melton knocked down a 6-foot jumper in the paint.
Hilliard was the thief on
the next Lady Dawg possession, and Fuller benefitted with a
quick layup for a 41-30 lead with 2:15 remaining in the
fourth.
The Lady Dawgs got the
ball across halfcourt on the next possession but could not
put points on the scoreboard with the rebound going to
Huntingdon.
A Melton layup with 1:56
on the clock gave the Fillies a 43-30 advantage.
"We kept fighting, but
there's a lot to be said for maturity. Three years from now,
if our players are trapped under the basket on the press,
they'll be strong enough to split it and shoot a layup at
the other end," the GHS coach said.
The final 2 minutes were
filled with trips to the Fillies' free-throw line,
Huntingdon connected on just enough free throw attempts
(5-of-11) to stave off any chance of a Lady Dawg rally.
A Fuller freebie with 57
ticks remaining on the clock pushed the Fillie lead back to
13 points, 48-35.
Gleason refused to quit,
as the four Lady Dawg seniors on the roster made their final
contributions, all in their accustomed roles. Ashley Wilson
sank a jumper, Katie Spain added a free throw, Teaya Miller
hauled in a rebound and Suddath netted a 3-pointer.
"I'm proud of our
seniors. They've come a long way from where they were in
junior high," Frazier said. "They set a goal of getting to
state, but for this team to get to the substate was a big
accomplishment."
With Frazier's offensive
game plan involving a deliberate, patient rhythm, the first
quarter featured limited opportunities for both teams.
Unfortunately, the Lady Dawgs were unable to connect on
their shots, and Huntingdon took advantage thanks to a big
quarter by Ashlee Lockhart. The Fillies' diminutive point
guard hit two of her trio of trifectas as Huntingdon edged
out to an 8-2 cushion by the end of the opening quarter.
Gleason's lone hoop in
the first quarter came on a Wiseman putback with 3:44 to
play in the stanza.
Despite trailing, GHS
maintained its patience on offense. Wiseman and Auvenshine
combined for 4 points each in an 8-2 Lady Dawg run which
pulled them to within a deuce, 12-10, with 2:28 to play in
the half.
After a Fuller stickback,
Spain sank a 10-footer in the paint to keep Gleason within 2
points, 1412 with 1:26 left in the frame.
Lockhart sank her third
3-pointer to give Huntingdon a17-12 lead at the
intermission.
In the third quarter,
Suddath's 5 consecutive points were followed by a 4-minute
GHS drought as the Fillies pushed their lead to 10 points,
27-17, for the first time.
Heading into the fourth,
the HHS lead stood at 28-19.
Hudson and Auvenshine
topped GHS with 9 points each.
For the Fillies, Fuller
led with 17 points, while Smith added 11 and Lockhart
finished with 10.
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