Lady Patriots carry 10-6 record into district-heavy part of schedule

Opening District 14-4A play with a 56-24 victory over Kenwood on Friday in Clarksville made the Henry County High School Lady Patriot basketball team feel a lot better after dropping a 49-44 decision at home to Stewart County on Jan.2.

The Lady Patriots are now 10-6 on the season and are 1-0 in district games. Henry County played at McKenzie on Tuesday and will return to district games on Friday with a trip to Clarksville to play at West Creek High School. Girls’ varsity action starts at 6 p.m. at West Creek.

Looking ahead, the Lady Patriots play at district rival Dickson County on Jan. 16 before returning to Gamlin Gymnasium Jan. 19 to entertain Clarksville Northwest.

LADY PATRIOTS 56, LADY KNIGHTS 24

Ten different Lady Patriots scored points in the big district win at Kenwood. The Lady Patriots started fast with a 16-2 scoring blitz in the first quarter. Irelynn Beecham hit a 3-pointer for Henry County and scored five total points in the first quarter. Na’Kiah Moore added four for the Lady Patriots.

Kenwood found some offense in the form of Yamine Pearson, who scored nine points in the second period for the Lady Knights but the Lady Patriots still won the scoring battle in the quarter by a 14-9 margin. That gave Henry County a 30-11 halftime advantage. Olivia Kendall and Bayleigh Thompson tossed in six points each for the Lady Patriots in the second frame.

Henry County posted a 12-7 scoring edge in the third period to push the Lady Patriots’ lead to 42-18. Noe Wilkerson hit a 3-point shot and scored six points in the third quarter for Henry County. Moore added four points. Kenwood got five points from Pearson.

The Lady Patriots closed out the win with a 14-6 scoring run in the fourth stanza to make the final score 56-24. Allie Taylor sank a 3-point shot and scored five points for the Lady Patriots in the last frame while Fajona Sneed also hit a 3-pointer and scored four points.

Moore topped Henry County’s scoring list with 10 points while Thompson added eight. Both Wilkerson and Sneed hit for seven points. Kendall finished with six points with Beecham and Taylor tossing in five points each. Na’Laiah Coats scored four points with both Breely Peirpoint and Fayth England contributing two points.

Pearson scored all six of Kenwood’s points in the fourth period and finished with a game-high 20 points. Both Sy’Nya Seay and Surai Townsend scored two points for the Lady Knights.

LADY REBELS 49, LADY PATRIOTS 44

Stewart County rallied in front of Henry County early in the fourth quarter with a 6-0 scoring run, giving the Lady Rebels a 37-31 lead. The Lady Rebels’ McKaylie Wallace did most of the damage in the final period by scoring seven points, while teammate Madison Maria added five to help Stewart County post a 49-44 win at Gamlin Gymnasium in the Jan. 2 contest.

Henry County got a strong game from Thompson at forward as she scored 17 points, but she only scored one point in the fourth period. Moore picked up some of the slack with six points in the last frame while Peirpoint sank a 3-point shot and scored five points.

The Lady Rebels opened the game by taking a 13-11 first-quarter lead. Faith Dacus scored five points for Stewart County in the first period while Thompson and Moore scored four points each for Henry County.

Both teams played strong defense in the second frame with Stewart County's 8-7 scoring edge giving the Lady Rebels a 21-18 halftime lead. Dacus and Kinsley Smith both hit 3-point shots for the Lady Rebels in the second quarter. Thompson put in four points for Henry County.

Thompson scored a basket with 26 seconds left in the third quarter to give Henry County a brief 32-31 lead. The Lady Patriots posted a 14-10 scoring edge in the third period to take the lead. Thompson had eight points overall in the period.

Following Thompson on the Lady Patriots’ scoring list in the game was Moore with 10 points while both  Beecham and Peirpoint scored eight points. They each hit two 3-point shots in the game. Kendall added one free throw.

No players scored in double figures for Stewart County. Wallace had nine points while Maria, Jaelyn Newman and Dacus all hit for eight points. Lizzy Guynn scored seven points with Smith chipping in six. Namine Bridges added three points.