Sports
Lady Tomcats Exit Early From Tournament
By: Austin Carpenter, Taylor Stano
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The South Gallia Lady Rebels ended the Trimble Lady Tomcats tournament run tonight at Meigs High School with a final score of 42-37.
Both teams had a slow first half by keeping it a low-scoring game. Trimble only contributed 14 points, while South Gallia tallied just 20.
Once the second half rolled in, the Lady Tomcats played against the Lady Rebels’ 1-2-2 zone press. This formation of play generated a more fast-paced game for both teams.
The quicker pace allowed Trimble to catch up with South Gallia by only trailing by one point at the end of the third quarter. Eventually, Trimble tied the game with six minutes left in the game.
Trimble allowed the game to remain close because of their close-knit defense. Specifically, junior Tia Altier stayed on her toes and moved fast to the ball on Trimble’s defensive end. Along with Altier, the Lady Tomcats blocked the ball on multiple occasions to deny the Lady Rebels from connecting their passes.
South Gallia laterally moved the ball across the arc on their offensive end to create scoring opportunities. Since South Gallia missed some field goal attempts, the Lady Tomcats were quick to rebound the ball and generate some offense.
Trimble created offense by finding sophomore Morgan Murphy. The 5-foot-6 Lady Tomcat racked up 14 points in tonight’s game.
“Morgan Murphy’s performance was great tonight,” Trimble head coach Dave Richards said. “We finally got her to drive some and she is only a sophomore.”
Toward the end of the match, South Gallia transitioned to a 2-3 zone press. Both teams started to become physical toward the end, as well.
“I have a couple of girls who can play really physical,” Richards said. “We didn’t think we had to be that physical but they let us play.”
The Lady Tomcats did play until the end, but appeared to be flustered. Trimble forced the ball often offensively, which led Trimble to fall toward the end of the game.
“We really thought we could win tonight,” Richards said. “That is the hardest we played all year. I’m really proud of them.”