Peabody girls end losing streak to Gibson County
TRENTON – No player on either team had started school yet the last time Peabody girls basketball defeated Gibson County.
“It was in ’02 or ’03 I guess from what I’ve been told, and before then it was still a few years before it had happened,” said Peabody head coach Michael Hart. “So it doesn’t happen often.”
It may not be often, but it’s recent. The Lady Golden Tide came back to beat the Lady Pioneers 56-49 on Tuesday.
The win included a 19-2 scoring run for Peabody in the second half. That stretch took the Lady Tide from down by seven late in the third quarter to up by 10 about midway through the fourth.
“I don’t know if it was the best half or stretch we’ve played all year, but it was as good as just about any performance we put together,” Hart said. “We made a couple of adjustments to our press, our girls hit shots, we didn’t commit many turnovers … we did everything we needed to do to get a big win over a good team.”
Getting big wins over good teams is something Hart has wanted to see from his squad. In his fifth year leading the program, this may not be the biggest win in his time coaching the Lady Tide, but it’s definitely up there — if for nothing else but to show where the program has gotten to.
“The first year I was here we won zero games, then nine, then a few more until we got to 22 or 23 last year,” Hart said. “Then this year we ramped up our schedule a good bit, putting teams like Gleason and Dresden and Henry County on there.
“We took our lumps, but it was worth it as frustrated as I got with them at times early on. You don’t want to play your best ball in the beginning of the season, and right now we’ve won 11 of our last 13. We’re playing well right now.”
And to put together a second-half comeback like his team did in this win?
“We don’t want to place too much on it because at the end of the day, it’s a win in district play in January with two weeks left in the regular season and won’t mean much when the postseason starts,” Hart said. “But for tonight, we’re going to enjoy this one more than we normally do.
“I think coming into school tomorrow will be a little more fun because of this win. But we’ve got a game against Humboldt later this week, and they gave us fits last time. We can’t enjoy this win too long.”
Stacie Mayberry led the Lady Tide with 15 points, most of which came in the second half. Maya Anderson finished with 11.
Justyce White and Allie Smithson led Gibson County with 14 apiece, and Ashton Lannom finished with 10.
Brandon Shields, 425-9751
