CLINTON, Tenn. | For most of three quarters here Friday night, Scott High outplayed Anderson County.
But a terrible start proved too much for the Lady Highlanders to overcome, and the Mavericks won going away, 53-41.
It would have been difficult to have imagined a worse way to start the game. With Coach Jake Wright imploring his team to play better, Scott started in a 13-0 hole, and the Lady Highlanders' only offensive production of the first quarter was a Julie Lawson 3-pointer.
On defense, which has been Scott High's hallmark under Wright for the past two seasons, the results weren't much better. Anderson County put up 18 points in the first quarter, building a 15-point lead.
The second quarter was much better. While the Lady Highlanders only scored 10 points — Brittany Morrow and Riley Price each scored four, and Rachel Garrett added a bucket — they limited AC to only five points from Lydia Meldrum, cutting the deficit to 10 points at halftime.
The third quarter saw the surge continue behind improved play by Morrow. The sophomore finished with 14 points, and scored 10 of those in the third quarter to power a 15-9 run as the Lady Highlanders trimmed the deficit to four.
It was a one-possession game on multiple occasions early in the fourth quarter, but then Anderson County caught traction late. Meldrum scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the final period, while Jaylynn Bullock added nine more, and the Mavs went on a 21-13 run down the stretch to put the game away.
A big story was the free throw line. The Lady Highlanders were uncharacteristically bad from the stripe, finishing 25%. On the other hand, Anderson County couldn't seem to miss from the line, finishing 91%.
The Lady Highlanders shot 37% from the field and had just as many made field goals as Anderson County, but the free throw disparity was difficult to overcome.
Morrow finished with a double-double, collecting 10 rebounds in addition to her 14 points. She also had five steals.
Jalin Young finished with five assists. Garrett and Annalyne Woodward each had five rebounds.
SCOTT (41): Morrow 14, Woodward 9, Lewis 6, R. Price 4, Garrett 3, Lawson 3, Terry 2.
ANDERSON CO. (53): Meldrum 20, Bullock 15, Basford 8, Mustard 7, Newman 2, Campbell 1.
