How Maryville girls basketball gave Hardin Valley its first district loss

MARYVILLE — Maryville wanted to give Hardin Valley its first District 4-AAA loss and had a concrete plan to do that. Coach Scott West told his girls basketball team it needed to limit the Hawks’ big three to under 34 points.

Seniors Lizzie Davis, Paige Gentry and Abbey Cornelius make life difficult on any opponent. West knew the way to get past Hardin Valley was to do the same to them.

“Those three have been here for 100 years,” he said after the Rebels’ 49-39 win. “It’s like they have nine years of eligibility. We knew they’d struggle to get points elsewhere.”

The Hawks (15-3, 7-1) have other options, but guards Davis and Gentry and Cornelius underneath are a big part of that offense. The Rebels (13-2, 6-2) held them to a combined 26 points. Seven of Davis’ nine points came at the line, including five in the fourth quarter. Cornelius scored 13 in the first half and couldn’t get anything in the second half.

“We didn’t want (Cornelius) to catch deep,” West said. “Lindsey (Taylor) did a good job of making her catch at the hash. Then we were sneaking the guard in to make her give it up. Courtney’s (Carruthers) job was to not let Gentry get loose.”

Normally, if a team can get to Cornelius, the 6-foot-2 Chattanooga signee can use her height to swing over the opponent and find Gentry. That put more pressure on other players, who West didn’t think were used to being in that position (though he’s sure Hawks coach Jennifer Galloway will address that quickly).

“Gentry shoots 3s, so I was on her,” Carruthers said. “I was just told to stay in her face and not help in or anything. Davis drives and Cornelius is really good, so the others had to help in on them.”

The instinct can be to look to help a teammate in trouble, but Carruthers had to fight that off to stay on Gentry’s deep threat.

“They put a lot of pressure on us,” Galloway said. “They put some hands on our passes and made it difficult for us to move the ball where we wanted to.”

The Hawks entered the game sitting atop the district, the only unbeaten team. Maryville sat beneath them, having lost to Bearden and William Blount (the next two teams in the standings). .

Hardin Valley still has the edge on the Rebels, in what promises to be a tight district, but there’s still a month of basketball to be played.

“Hardin Valley will have better nights,” West said. “But unfortunately for them, we will, too. We weren’t great offensively. If we keep that defensive attention and the offense fixes itself, we’re going to be special.”