Peabody pulls away from Gleason
TRENTON – The score isn’t indicative of how the game went, but Peabody’s girls basketball team advanced past Gleason in the Region 7-A quarterfinals Thursday night with a final score of 48-32.
The Lady Bulldogs never led, but they kept the game close going into the fourth quarter.
Peabody increased its intensity with its defensive play and hit its free throws down the stretch to outscore Gleason 16-3 and pull away for the big win.
“There was about three minutes to go in the third quarter, so I told the team in a timeout we had 11 minutes to shut them down and move on,” said Peabody head coach Michael Hart. “They did a good job of doing what they needed to do to keep them from scoring much in the fourth quarter.
“They kept them to one shot on most possessions, and those shots weren’t easy.”
Except for a 3-pointer by Jordyn Greene early in the period to cut Peabody’s lead to two, Gleason didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
Peabody went 10-for-13 from the free throw line during the final eight minutes, with Makayla Jones hitting six of eight.
“Peabody has a good team, and their point guard (Maya) Anderson was the difference for them tonight,” said Gleason head coach Sean Stephenson. “We had a hard time shutting her down.”
Anderson was the only Peabody player to reach double figures in scoring with 17 points, but Jones and Stacie Mayberry had nine apiece.
Jayden Green was the only Gleason player in double figures with 12.
Peabody will advance to play Huntingdon in the region semifinals at Bethel University on Saturday.
“I haven’t seen much on them, but I know they have a couple of good players under the goal that we’ll have to prepare for,” Hart said. “Right now, I’m just glad we won this one and we’re moving on.”
For the Lady Bulldogs, their best season since Stephenson returned to coaching in Weakley County came to an end sooner than they’d planned.
“Winning 28 games doesn’t happen by accident, and I don’t put a lot of stock in the state top 10 rankings as far as who’s better than who,” Stephenson said. “But I’m glad to see this team bring Gleason basketball back to the point we’re getting state recognition again.
“It’s now up to the returning players to build on what these seniors have begun since they got here.”
Reach Brandon Shields at 731-425-9751, bjshields@jacksonsun.com or on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon.
