Lady Eagles grind out “ugly” victory
HARTSVILLE Westmoreland Middle School girls head basketball coach Jan Gross wasn’t pleased with the aesthetics of Thursday evening’s contest at Jim B. Satterfield Middle School.
Fortunately for the Lady Eagles, looks didn’t matter as Westmoreland only trailed on two occasions in a 31-25 victory over the Lady Jackets.
Satterfield Middle’s only leads came in the first half, when the Lady Yellow Jackets held a 4-2 advantage and a 6-5 lead in the early stages of the second quarter.
After Alison Gray hit the game’s lone 3-pointer with 5:29 left in the first half, the Lady Eagles never trailed again.
However, Gross still wasn’t pleased with some aspects of her squad’s game.
“It was ugly, I mean, seriously ugly,” Gross said. “We tried to work on our defense, and our defense still isn’t where it needs to be.”
Avery Morris led the Lady Eagles with nine points, and Paige Akins provided eight.
Westmoreland shot 42 percent (13 of 31) from the field but missed numerous layups and close-range attempts during the contest. The Lady Eagles only hit 4 of 11 free-throw attempts as well.
“It’d be a different game if we could make lay-ups and free throws,” Gross said. “Our outside percentage on field goals is better than it has been in a long time, but underneath the basket and free throws, I’m not pleased with that. It’s something we’ve struggled with all year.”
As much as the Lady Eagles struggled on field-goal attempts, the Lady Yellow Jackets fared even worse, shooting 27 percent (9 of 33) from the field.
Chloe Donoho paced Satterfield Middle with nine points, and Tori Simms added eight points.
The two teams traded scores toward the end of the first half, with Westmoreland leading 18-14 at halftime.
Morris gave the Lady Eagles a 20-14 lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter. Those were the first points by either team in the second half. That basket was Westmoreland’s only points of the third quarter as the Lady Yellow Jackets rallied to tie the game at 20 entering the final period.
“It’s definitely not where I want us to be this late in the year,” Gross said. “We’ve got a lot to work on over Christmas break, and we’ve got two big games coming up after Christmas break before the (conference) tournament starts.”
Gray and Meagan Haskins scored 55 seconds apart to give Westmoreland a 29-23 lead with 2:08 to play, and Satterfield Middle only scored one more time over the game’s final three minutes.
The Lady Eagles will take a break for the holidays and resume action with a contest at Red Boiling Springs on Jan. 4.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.
WESTMORELAND (31) – Avery Morris 9, Paige Akins 8, Alison Gray 7, Meagan Haskins 4, Jordan Bandy 2, Zoey Fuller 1.
SATTERFIELD (25) – Chloe Donoho 9, Tori Simms 8, Claire Belcher 6, Morgan White 2.
Half: 18-14, Westmoreland. Three-point goals: Westmoreland 1 (Gray 1), Jim B. Satterfield 0.