HUNTSVILLE — Scott High head coach Jake Wright is not going to be content with moral victories.
Wright sent that message by calling his team to the gym for a voluntary 6 a.m. shooting session Wednesday (Dec. 15) morning, less than 10 hours after they lost to Campbell County.
But the Lady Highlanders' 41-33 loss to Campbell County on Tuesday was yet another indication of an improving basketball team that is finding ways to hang around in games that it doesn't win.
Just one night after being thoroughly dominated by a strong Class 4A Powell team on the road, the Lady Highlanders took Class 4A Campbell County to the wire at Highlander Gymnasium. It was a game that Scott High won a year ago, but the Cougars are one of East Tennessee's most improved teams, and entered Tuesday's game having lost just once all season.
No one would have guessed that Tuesday's game was going to be competitive after the first quarter. An Annalyne Woodward bucket were the only points Scott High could muster, as Campbell County jumped out to a big 15-2 lead.
But the second quarter saw Scott High limit Campbell County to just two field goals and trim the deficit to four points, 19-15, heading into the intermission.
Offensively, the comeback was powered by a pair of sophomores, Julie Lawson and Rachel Garrett. Each hit a 3-pointer and finished with five points in the second quarter. Zoey Terry also hit a 3-pointer.
The third quarter was another slow one on the offensive end for Scott High. Karlie Whited knocked down two 3-pointers to help Campbell County push its lead back to eight points as the final period began.
In the fourth, Scott hung around but could get no closer.
Zoey Terry had perhaps the best game of her career at SHS, finishing with a team-high nine points and seven steals.
Jalin Young had five steals, while Brittany Morrow finished with a team-high five rebounds and three steals.
The Lady Highlanders continued to struggle shooting the ball, finishing just 28% from the field. But Scott's turn-around at the free throw line continued. After Garrett missed three straight free throws in the second quarter, Scott High recovered to hit 7 of 8 free throws the rest of the way, including 5 of 6 in the fourth quarter.
SCOTT (33): Terry 9, Garrett 7, Lawson 5, Woodward 5, Morrow 4, Young 2, Duncan 1.
CAMPBELL CO. (41): Pemberton 13, Whited 9, Brandenburg 6, Kitts 5, Browning 5, Gillum 3.
