Sports
Lady Spartans Fall To New Lexington
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Coming off a 2-19 season last year, the Alexander Lady Spartans opened their 2012-2013 season in hopes of notching a win against the New Lexington Lady Panthers. Unfortunately, the Lady Spartan’s fell short in a back-and-forth battle, 60-53.
Alexander (0-1) fought the Lady Panthers (1-0) hard for the first three quarters as they entered the fourth tied at 40. However, Panthers forward Sydney Wycinski proved to be too much to handle for the Spartans as she tallied a double-double with 35 points and 13 rebounds.
The full court press of the Panthers during the fourth quarter gave the Lady Spartans a significant amount of trouble. Senior Kaylee Koker fouled out with just over five minutes to go and New Lexington was able to force several turnovers that led to easy baskets while the Lady Spartans were unable to contain the paint play of Wycinski.
“We got into some foul trouble with some ball handlers with Kaylee and Marilyn,” first-year Alexander head coach Scott Hinton said. “The pressure gets to you a little bit as the game goes along and I think we quit attacking and let them come to us. We didn’t take the action to them so we kind of hurt ourselves with that and had some big turnovers in some key points in the game that really cost us down the stretch.”
Koker, an All-Hero Team nominee last season, was unable to get much going as the Lady Panthers held her to just 11 points and three rebounds. Sophomore guard Allyson Malone stepped up in place of Koker and scored a team-high 14 points while adding five assists.
This season opener was much improved in comparison to last year’s, which Alexander lost 55-11 to Jackson High School. Hinton’s belief in senior leadership has brought the Lady Spartans a long way in a rebuilding year and they look to put this game in their past and focus on what lies ahead.
“We have a good group of girls and they work hard every day,” Hinton said. “We’ll watch the tape and we’ll learn from it and that’s all you can do and get ready for Zane Trace on Saturday and we’ll be ready to go.
Alexander’s next game is Saturday Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. at Zane Trace High School.