HIGH SCHOOL TEAM PAGES DOBYNS-BENNETT

White Again Takes Up Post Slack in Lady Indians' Big Win over 'Betsy

White Again Takes Up Post Slack in Lady Indians' Big Win over 'Betsy
Erin Larkin (21) makes the pass for the Lady Indians. TriCitiesSports.com photo by Allen Greene.
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
December 12, 2017

KINGSPORT, Tenn – Dobyns-Bennett’s Ta-Tionna White apparently decided she wanted to play Tuesday night.

White stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, nine rebounds, five steals and five assists in the Lady Indians’ 68-46 victory over Elizabethton at the Buck Van Huss Dome.

“When Ta-Tionna wants to play, Ta-Tionna can…flat play,” said Lady Indian coach Bill Francis. “She was everywhere tonight.”

The D-B win spoiled the head coaching debut of Elizabethton’s Lucas Andrews, who was named to the post on Monday after Barry Johnson submitted his resignation.

“Coach Andrews and I have known each other for a long time,” noted Francis. “We used to coach against each other in freshmen boys, junior varisty boys when he was at Hampton.”
Francis said it’s been a joy to what White break out of her shell and blossom since last season.

“She’s really grown up the last three years,” added White. She takes care of her school work now like she’s supposed to. She is learning to work harder in the weight room, learning to work harder in practice.”

White has been pressed into a more prominent role with Jaden Fullen out of the line-up for the last three games. In Fullen’s place, White is averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.

“Ta-Tionna deserves this opportunity,” noted Francis. “Sometimes opportunity comes when you least expect it and she’s stepped in and given us some great basketball here these last three games.”

The situation at post became exponentially exacerbating when star Courtney Whitson quickly found foul trouble against the Lady Cyclones. Whitson was saddle with two fouls in the first quarter and needed just nine seconds of action on the third quarter to pick up her third.

Still, the Lady Indians enjoyed a 31-17 lead at intermission.

Whitson scored the first seven points of the second half for the Lady Indians to help D-B expand the cushion to 44-22 on a Jaden Potts lay-up.

But Elizabethton was able to score the final 11 points of the frame when Whitson returned to the pine after committing her fourth personal.

“We had some players on the floor that were having trouble scoring,” said Francis. “We are a post-oriented offense and when we don’t have the right post combinations in there it makes it tough for us.”

With Whitson and White both back on the floor in the fourth, the duo scored five points each as the cushion expanded back to 22 points once more.

We weathered that storm and I thought the kids did a good job of managing the game,” added Francis. “When we got Courtney back in there with Ta-Tionna that stretched it back out.”

Francis utilized various forms of pressure defense to force Elizabethton into 20 first-half turnovers. The Lady Cyclones finished with 29 giveaways on the night.

“I felt like that was the key to the game,” continued Francis. “We talked about relentless pressure before the game. We had to pressure without fouling. If you put enough pressure without fouling, most high school basketball teams are going to make mistakes.”

Despite the foul trouble, Whitson finished with 14 points, five rebound, two steals and two blocks. Lily Griffith tossed in ten points and also have five assists and five steals.

Baylee Waye dropped in eight points and Britney Griffith six for the Lady Indians (6-5).

“If we can get 14 or 15 points a night from Baylee, Britney and Meg (Francis), we’re going to be a pretty good basketball team.”

Kaylen Shell led Elizabethton with 15 points and also had three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Morgan Headrick tallied a dozen points off the bench.

“We’ve got a lot of grit,” said Elizabethton’s Andrews. “We don’t quit.”

As the Lady Cyclones took better care of the basketball in the second half, the Elizabethton offense started to gain traction for a bit.

“We’ve got to do more, attacking the basket and getting to the rim,” noted Andrews. “Everybody does it to us. We are going to start doing it to them.”

Francis acknowledged a new leader on the Lady Cyclone bench added a certain degree of pre-game apprehension.

“I figured Elizabethton wouldn’t re-invent the wheel,” Francis said. “I kind of felt comfortable they would play zone against our bigs. They pressed a little more, but I think that’s his style. I think you’ll see more of that down the road.”

ELIZABETHTON (2-7) – Abbey Townsend 0 0-0 0, Kelsie Winters 2 0-1 4, Destiny Little 1 0-0 2, Kaylen Shell 5 4-5 15, Camryn Koroma 3 3-4 9, Kennedy Morelock 0 0-0 0, Jordan Owens 0 0-0 0, McKendra Norris 1 0-0 2, Morgan Headrick 4 2-2 12, Kaitlyn Light 1 0-0 2, Torrie Roberts 0 0-0 0, Cassy Fowler 0 0-0 0, Totals 17 9-12 46.

DOBYNS-BENNETT (6-5) – Baylee Waye 3 0-0 8, Britney Griffith 2 2-2 6, Lily Griffith 3 3-4 10, Courtney Whitson 5 3-3 14, Ta-Tionna White 8 5-7 21, Megan Ayers 0 0-0 0, Jaden Potts 1 0-0 2, Blaire Barrett 1 0-0 2, Elle Francis 0 1-2 1, Meg Francis 0 0-0 0, Erin Larkin 1 0-0 2, Caitlyn Wallace 1 0-0 2, Emilee Lane 0 0-0 0, Peyton Domby 0 0-0 0, Totals 25 14-18 68.
 
Elizabethton
6
11
8
15
-- 45
Sullivan North
6
16
2
13
-- 37
 
Three-Pointers – Elizabethton 3 (Headrick 2, Shell); Dobyns-Bennett 4 (Waye 2, L. Griffith, Whitson). Rebounds – Elizabethton 14 (Little 3), Dobyns-Bennett 26 (White 9). Assists – Elizabethton 10 (Roberts 3, Little 3), Dobyns-Bennett 18 (White 5, L. Griffith 5). Steals – Elizabethton 5, Dobyns-Bennett 21 (White 5, L. Griffith 5). Blocks – Elizabethton 7 (Little 2, Headrick 2, Shell 2), Dobyns-Bennett 2 (Whitson 2). Turnovers – Elizabethton 29, Dobyns-Bennett 18. Total Fouls – Elizabethton 12, Dobyns-Bennett 16. Technical Fouls – none. Fouled Out – Whitson, Dobyns-Bennett.

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