Shooting was problem for Huntingdon

MURFREESBORO — There was less than a minute-and-a-half remaining in Huntingdon’s Class A girls basketball quarterfinal matchup with Hampton.

The Fillies trailed by six, but they had the ball and a chance to make a serious dent in the lead.

Huntingdon forward Jesica Keith had good position for a shot under the goal. It hit the backboard and bounced on the rim a couple times before getting away from the rim for a missed shot.

Hampton rebounded and took it down the court for a fast break layup that was also missed. Huntingdon had another shot with a fast break of its own, but Allie Jones’ shot from inside the lane was no good.

That sequence of events summed up Huntingdon’s shooting from the field in its 37-29 loss to Hampton.

“We had good shots, but they were playing good defense,” Keith said about the game. “We had a hard time making the shots we were able to take.”

I’m sure most people around here who follow local high school girls basketball would’ve thought if I told them Hampton would have 37 points that Huntingdon would probably be in the semifinals playing for a shot at a state championship.

“We didn’t hit enough shots, and you can’t win if you don’t do that,” said Huntingdon head coach Faris Lowery.

It’s a simple statement, but it’s the most fundamental thing you can say about a basketball game. You can play all the defense you want and get all the rebounds, but if you’ve gone a full 32-minute game and hit a total of 10 field goals, your defense had better be near-perfect.

Huntingdon’s was good. The problem was the offense, and the shots simply didn’t fall at times. Late in the fourth quarter and into overtime, Huntingdon’s shot looked like one day when I tried to empty a dustpan after sweeping at church into a garbage can that still had the lid on it.

I had to sweep all that trash up again and get it in the can the next time.

Unfortunately for Huntingdon, there is no next time. But there have been plenty of successful times. The 2016-17 Fillies squad will be remembered for accomplishing a lot for their school.

Winning a district championship, finishing as region runner-up, winning a sectional game to make it to state are accomplishments not to be overlooked. To prove how difficult all of those are, it’s the first time the program has done any of those things since Faris Lowery returned to coach the team in 2010.

The season ended a day or two too early for Huntingdon, but the Fillies gave it their best shot.

Brandon Shields is the high school sports columnist for The Jackson Sun. Contact him at 425-9751 or at bjshields@jacksonsun.com. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.