BLUFF CITY — Down 17 points midway through the third quarter, things looked pretty grim for the Sullivan East girls basketball team on Wednesday night inside the Dyer Dome.
Jenna Hare wasn’t about to let the Lady Patriots lose on their home floor in the eighth annual Food City Thanksgiving Classic as she netted 38 points in a 68-59 come-from-behind win over Mountain Mission.
Of those 38 markers that Hare had, 29 of them came in the second half as she moved to within 100 points of surpassing 2,000 for her career.
“This one for Jenna is pretty close to the Michal Jordan flu game,” East coach Allan Aubrey said. “She’s running on fumes and she woke up today not feeling very well. She told us that she was going to give it a go, though and we had to play her about every minute.
“I took way more timeouts than I normally do because that was for rest. She’s grown into a leadership role and is making big shots.”
When the Lady Challengers switched to 2-3 zone defense late in the third is when East quickly got back into the game. A couple of huge 3’s from the corner by Hare and two late buckets by Kara Hicks gave East the advantage with over three minutes of the fourth remaining.
“We didn’t shoot it very well other than Jenna until about the fourth quarter,” Aubrey said. “When things started going in for Jenna, others started making them. We just really played in cement for a while and luckily we woke up in time.”
Anna Chacha had a big night for Mountain Mission, netting 28 and making four shots from long distance. Millicah Vincent also finished in double-figures for the Lady Challengers, netting 14.
“(Chacha) has Division I talent and with her size and athleticism, she was tough for us to handle,” Aubrey said.
Girls
Daniel Boone 52, North Greene 24
The Lady Trailblazers used a tough defensive effort to hold the Lady Huskies to only two points in the first and third quarters.
Andrea Flores led Daniel Boone with 14 while Kiley Beach contributed seven points.
North Greene was led by Grace Buchanan’s 10.
Boys
West Ridge 70, Tri-Cities Christian 57
West Ridge’s Wade Witcher continued his torrid start to the season by racking up another 20-point game on Wednesday night.
Witcher finished the night with 29 on 8-of-17 shooting, which included 4-for-6 from long distance. Dawson Arnold (15) and Avery Horne (10) were also in double-digits for the Wolves.
Abraham Gewelke had a solid night for Tri-Cities Christian with 22 while Lofton Looney scored 12. Gewelke went 5-for-7 from long range.
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