Bittersweet March 14, 2014 Shelby Valley’s Courtney Wright - TopicsExpress

Bittersweet March 14, 2014 Shelby Valley’s Courtney Wright Courtney Wright walks off the court after the game against Danville in the Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament Wednesday afternoon. The Lady Wildcats fell to Danville 52-48. As Shelby Valley took the floor it was an all too familiar feeling. It was the big stage, it was the Girls’ Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The Lady Wildcats faced off against the Danville Lady Admirals, who were the runner-up already this year at the “All A Tournament. The Lady Admirals’ speed proved to be too much for The Lady Wildcats as they fell in the first round 52-48. “It was a hard fought game,” said Shelby Valley coach Rodney Rowe. “We just dont see that type of speed back home in the mountains, you might see a player or two but not a whole team.” The Lady Wildcats came out fired up as Taylor Rowe opened up the game with a three from the top of the key; Rowe had a game high 15 points. But it wouldnt take long for Danville to pick up the pace and use their speed to their advantage, when the Lady Admirals took off on a 13-3 run in the first five minutes of the game. Shelby Valley would not take this laying down as they battled back with Rowe hitting a big three to beat the buzzer getting them back within single digits of the Lady Admirals. Ending the first down 17-9. “We werent used to that speed, everything was happening so quick,” Rowe said. “You cant simulate that in practice. I think me trying to tell the kids and tell them. It didnt soak in until they got to experience it first hand, but we got back and adjusted and settled, and I think we did a good job.” And after the adjustments the Lady Wildcats came out firing in the second quarter as Shelby Valley took off on a huge 8-0 run to tie the game 17-17. The Lady Wildcats tried to slow down the Lady Admirals, and had a hard time in the first but, Shelby Valley would punish that speed in the second making Danville go to the line to keep up. The Lady Admirals shot 60 percent from the line on the night and knocked down six out of 10 in the first half. The biggest portion of that coming in the second quarter where Danville would find the line three different times. Shelby Valley found the line on their own as well with Lakyn Mullins getting her first points of the night from the free-throw line with 2:00 minutes left in the half. Mullins finished the night with eight points, eight rebounds and added an assist for the Lady Cats. When asked about having Mullins back here at the end of the season, how valuable was she to the game? “Huge,” Rowe said. “Shes the most athletic kid that we have, she scores, she was rebounding, having eight rebounds, and just having her out there she helps us with the press you know. We stick her in the middle and shes just a huge presence out there for us.” When the buzzer rang Shelby Valley went into the locker room down 29-24. While making up some of the deffecite from the first the Lady Wildcats found themselves only down five, still with a second half to play. One of the keys to the game for the Lady Admirals was the turnovers. “Were not the type of team that forces a lot of turnovers, we do a lot of stuff in half court defense.” said Rowe. “All their kids can handle the ball, theyre very difficult we had to try to speed them up a little and that just played right into their hands. They are one of the best teams, if not the best team weve played all year.” Shelby Valley turned the ball over 17 times while only creating six turnovers of their own. Two of those turnovers came in the third quarter as Rachel Smith took lead of the defense for the Lady Wildcats. Smith finished the game with six points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Being one of a few seniors on the Lady Wildcats team, Smith, post-game, was asked what was going through her head. “Just replaying the memories,” Smith said. “It was so much fun.” Shelby Valley came out of half time firing once again going down low to Mullins and Savannah Honaker, Honaker finished the night with eight points and four rebounds. With Mullins and Honaker making their presence down low known in the third the Lady Wildcats racked up 14 points in the paint during the third quarter. Two of those baskets came off fast breaks on the few turnovers from the Lady Admirals. But in the end of the third the Lady Wildcats still found themselves behind the Lady Admirals 40-38. Keeping it within their sights at all times. The fourth quarter points would have to be earned by the Lady Admirals as Shelby Valley couldnt catch a break on fouls. Sending Danville to the line a total of six times. Once again the Lady Admirals went 60 percent. Shelby Valley didnt find the free-throw line at all in the second half. By the end of the game the Lady Admirals had only racked up two total fouls in the second half, while Shelby Valley had accumulated 10. With only 1:12 left in the game, the Lady Wildcats found themselves only down 49-45, but once again the speed and ball handling ability of the Lady Admirals proved to be to much for Shelby Valley as they were able to pass the ball around not allowing the Lady Wildcats to draw the foul, stop the clock and send them to the line. As the buzzer rang the Lady Wildcats looked to the scoreboard with a tear in their eyes as the Lady Admirals had held on to their lead to advance to the second round of the Girls Sweet 16 state tournament. After the game Rowe talked about the effort with which his team played. “A+ effort,” Rowe said. “I mean they played extremely hard. Right now, we were the healthiest we had been all year. With Mullins being out for half the season and Rachel being out five or six games. They came back and weve won the last 14 games in a row, and to get down here for a second year in a row its a pretty good thing. ”Shelby Valley 9 15 14 10 — 48 Danville 17 12 11 12 — 52 Shelby Valley - Taylor Rowe 15, Lakyn Mullins 8, Savannah Honaker 8, Rachel Smith 6, Sydney Jones 6, Lindsay Proffit 3, Courtney Wright 2 Danville - Alyvia Walker 15, Essence Grey 14, Cameron McPherson 11, Laken Grey 9, Ne Ne Chenault 3