LORETTO – The Summertown Lady Eagles and Eagles invaded Loretto Monday night, making
themselves at home in “The Barn” and handing a pair of losses to the host Lady
Mustangs and Mustangs of Loretto.

The girls’ game was every bit the battle it had been anticipated to be. The
Lady Mustangs jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on a pair of basket by Leah Stone
and a pair of free throws by Jana Cross. The Lady Eagles finally got on the
scoreboard on a driving basket by Haley Lovett with 5:35 to play in the opening
period. A dish from Mallory Scott to Emily Franks for a basket, cut it to
6-4 with 5:00 to play in the period. Loretto would answer with a trey by
Stone, to go up 9-4, but the Lady Eagles’ responded with a 7-0 run on a trey by
Beth Long and a pair of feeds from Jennifer Peterson to Franks for baskets,
putting the Lady Eagles up 11-9 with 2:39 remaining. The Lady Eagles would
maintain the lead the remainder of the period and hold an 18-17 lead at the end
of the first. In the second period, the defensive struggle would continue,
as the lead changed hands 3 times and neither team was able to muster more than
a 4 point lead thru the period. The Lady Eagles were paced by Mallory Scott
with a basket and a pair of free throws, and Tamia Tucker with a pair of
baskets and a pair of free throws. Neither team scored in the final 3:44 of
the second period, and the first half ended with the Lady Mustangs holding a
13-10 scoring advantage in the period and a 30-28 lead at the intermission.

The second half would open with a feed from Long to Franks for a basket, but
the Lady Mustangs responded with back to back baskets by Cross and Sara
Brewer, to take a 34-33 lead and force a Lady Eagle timeout. Loretto would
hold a 12-6 scoring advantage in the period and hold a 42-34 lead at the end
of the third period.

The final period opened with a Lady Mustang basket by Brewer, giving Loretto a
10 point lead (44-34) – their largest of the night, with 7:41 to play in the
4th. However, the Lady Eagles defense then stepped-up a notch, forcing
multiple turnovers by the Lady Mustangs – and the Lady Eagles capitalized on
them. The Lady Eagles made a 7-0 run, with baskets by Peterson, Franks and
Tamia Tucker, and a free throw by Franks, cutting the lead to 44-41 with 6:33
remaining. Following a pair of free throws by Cross, Franks converted a
3-point play, cutting the lead to 46-45 with 4:36 remaining Following a Nikki
Reed basket for the Lady Mustangs, the Lady Eagles answered with a basket by
Franks and a fast break dish from Lovett to Long for a basket, putting the Lady
Eagles up 49-48 with 3:43 to play. Then, the game was like a heavyweight
fight, as the inside game of Loretto’s Cross and Summertown’s Franks, took over
and answered one another basket for basket for the next several possessions.
A steal and basket by Peterson put the Lady Eagles up 53-52 with 2:37 to play,
but a Loretto trey put them up 55-53 with 1:33 remaining. Another Peterson
basket with 1:13 to play knotted the score at 55-55, then Peterson made a steal
on the ensuing inbounds and dished to Tucker for a basket, putting the Lady
Eagles up 57-55 with 59 seconds remaining. A missed Loretto shot was then
rebounded by Lovett, who kicked it down the court for a fast-break basket by
Scott, putting the Lady Eagles up 59-55 with 39 seconds remaining. The Lady
Eagles had 3 fouls to give without the Lady Mustangs going to the charity
stripe. Loretto was unable to get a quality shot off over the final 30
seconds. Tucker sank a pair of free throws with 3.5 ticks remaining, to go
up 61-55 before a Jessica Green trey, at the buzzer, for the Lady Mustangs set
the final score at 61-58.

The Lady Eagles were led by Emily Franks with 22 points (7 rebounds), Tamia
Tucker with 12, Beth Long with 9 (1 trey), followed by Mallory Scott, Haley
Lovett (1 trey) and Jennifer Peterson (5 assists) with 6 each. The Lady
Mustangs were led by Jana Cross with 19 points (9 rebounds), Leah Stone with 12
(2 treys), Nikki Reed (2 treys) and Sara Brewer (1 trey) with 11 each, Jessica
Green with 3 and Dava Dickson with 2.

In the boys’ game, the Eagles were a little slow out of the blocks, but
responded with a big second half to take a 70-28 win over the Mustangs.

The Eagles opened with a pair of baskets by A.J. Klinghard, followed by baskets
by Jason Smith, Bret Holden and Cody Braden, as they took a 14-8 lead by the
end of the first period. Loretto would open the second period with a 5-0
run, cutting the lead to 14-13 with 4:56 to play in the second, but the Eagles
would respond with a 13-4 run to close the period and hold a 27-17 lead at the
intermission.

The second half would be all Eagles, as they outscored the Mustangs 21-5 in
the third to lead 48-22, and 22-6 in the final period to take the 70-28 win.

The Eagles were led by A.J. Klinghard with 21 points, Bret Holden with 11,
Nick Nance with 10 (2 treys), Cody Braden with 9 (1 trey), Chris Carrington
with 6 (1 trey), Wesley Clark with 3 (1 trey), followed by Cile Counce,
Brandon Keeton, Jason Smith, Clint Gobble and Logan Harville with 2 each.
The Mustangs were led by Brock Glass with 10 points, Lucas Nunley with 6,
Raleigh Green (1 trey) and Alvin Townson with 4 each, Colin Stout with 2,
followed by Clint Wright and Brady Kimbrell with 1 each.

The Lady Eagles and Eagles return to District 12-A action on Tuesday, January
31st, as they host Zion Christian Academy. Game time is 6:00 PM.