Huntingdon starts strong, beats JC

The Huntingdon Fillies raced out to an early lead over Jackson Christian and never let up as they defeated the Lady Eagles 79-45 on their home court Tuesday night.

Huntingdon (3-0) came out in an aggressive half-court press that seemed to catch JC off guard and forced several turnovers leading to easy baskets for the Fillies.

“We thought after our earlier meeting with JC that we could come out in a half-court press and be successful with it,” said Huntingdon coach Farris Lowery. “I thought we played really good on defense as a team tonight.”

The pressure defense frustrated the Lady Eagles all night and kept them from getting into any offensive rhythm.  Jackson Christian was held to 17 points in the first half as Huntingdon led 46-17 at halftime.

The Fillies on the other hand jumped into an offensive flow led by junior point guard Taylor Smith who had a game high 22 points.

“Taylor has really elevated her game this year. She is getting better every week,” Lowery said. “She made really good decisions with the ball tonight.”

Smith was forced to carry the offense early as senior post player Jesica Keith got into early foul trouble and spent most of the second quarter on the bench.

“Last game I did not play very good, so I knew tonight I had to come out and play a better game,” said Smith referring to an earlier game against JC in which the Fillies won by three points and Smith scored nine.

Keith came on strong in the second half to help Huntingdon keep the Lady Eagles down by double digits and pick up her team as they did not play well in the third period.  Keith scored 10 points in the second half to finish with 16 for the game, and she also had a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Kady Beth Cook was the top scorer for JC with nine points. Kelsey Rice and Ashlyn Yarbrough added eight points each. The Lady Eagles fell to 1-4 on the season.