Post Photo by Dennis Holley Ady Gentry powers her way past the Huntland defense and goes up for two.
By DENNIS HOLLEY
Sports Writer
CORNERSVILLE — After a long regular season and then rematches with district foes in the District 10-A tournament, the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs welcomed an old rival from District 9-A, Huntland Lady Hornets, for the tipoff of the Region 5-A quarterfinals.
The Lady Dawgs coming off a heart wrenching loss in the district championship on last Monday night, shook off any lingering effects to post a 45-30 win over the Lady Hornets.
Playing in front of a full stands on the home side, the Lady ‘Dawgs did not get off to a solid start as the taller Lady Hornets using their height and tenacious defense opened with a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter with a single basket by Cornersville’s Jayli Childress.
By the time the second quarter opened the Lady ‘Dawgs slowly began to gain momentum and with guidance from Coach Hayden McMahon, Cornersville began to tighten its defense and to find cracks in the Huntland defense to allow the Cornersville offense to flow.
Anna Wood found the range on two 3-pointers, then Annabelle Mulliniks sank a basket from out front, pulling the Lady ‘Dawgs closer and with points from Emma Kate Dunnivan and Abigail Finley Cornersville pulled to within two points, 18-16, as the halftime horn sounded.
“We gelled there toward the end of the first half and started hitting shots, scooping up loose balls, things you have to do to win at this time of the season,” McMahon said.
The third quarter saw the Lady ‘Dawgs began to assert themselves as Ady Gentry became a force under the basket scoring six points, the first two points tying the game at 18-18.
Childress then had a steal and a layup and Mulliniks sank a 3-pointer.
Gentry’s last basket of the quarter, on a put-back no less, sent the Lady ‘Dawgs to a 29-22 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter opened with the Cornersville defense ratcheting up the defense while finding opportunities to exploit on offense as Wood sank another 3-pointer to build the Cornersville lead to eight points 32-24.
Childress then took the game in hand as the senior point guard, utilizing her quickness and speed, delivered on three consecutive possessions—the of which was a drive down the lane for a bucket, followed b a steal and a layup, then on another quick driving layup to give the Lady ‘Dawgs a nice 40-27 cushion and with 1:30 left to go in the game.
“She (Childress) managed the pressure well and played downhill,” McMahon said.
Huntland was left with no options other than to foul and could only watch as Cornersville went to the line to shoot free throws and the clock hit 0:00.
“After we got through the first quarter, we started playing and we adjusted, and they (the players) stuck with it,” McMahon said.
With the win over Huntland, the Lady ‘Dawgs will travel to Richland High School Monday night for a Region 5-1A semifinal game against the Moore County High School Lady Raiders, a 57-24 winner over Culleoka.
Huntland 10 8 4 8 — 30
Cornersville 2 14 13 16 — 45
Huntland: Yareli Avalos 11, Jocy May 8, Maddie Burks 5, Bailey Morris 3, Asyia Williams 3.
3-Point Goals (3): May, Bailey, Williams.
Cornersville: Jayli Childress 14, Anna Wood 11, Ady Gentry 6, Annabelle Mulliniks 6, Abigail Finley 3, Emma Kate Dunnivan 3, Katie Powers 2.
3-Point Goals: Cornersville (4): Wood 3, Mulliniks; Huntland (3): May, Bailey, Williams.
Halftime Score: Huntland 18, Cornersville 16.
