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Hounds in OT game vs. Indians
J. C. Tilton
This past Thursday the Lady Dixie GreyHounds hosted the Carlisle Indians. It was a closely matched game that took an extra 4 minutes to determine a victor. This was senior night for Dixie's Ashley Stamper and Teri Barnes. Both players would put out an intense effort in the back and forth game. Carlisle played zone and pressed some in the first half. Dixie mainly played man to man thru out the game. In the first half, Dixie's answer to the zone was to hit shots from outside - 4 treys were scored. But Dixie was having a problem with turnovers. This allowed Carlisle to keep pace. The first quarter ended 9-9. But in the second quarter, Dixie was able to open a lead. Offensively, they still were hitting from outside. Early in the quarter, Carlisle relaxed their press and went to a man to man defense. But after Dixie put together a run at the end of the quarter, Carlisle again turned up the pressure full court. But it did not slow the Hounds and Dixie went to the locker room with a 24-17 halftime lead.
So many times this season, Dixie has had a third quarter let down. And unfortunately this appeared to be the case yet again. Carlisle had a strong third quarter and chipped away at the Dixie lead. Coach Meinking took an early timeout to get the girls attention. This seemed to work as the team regained their composure and went to work. Where the outside game seemed to work in the first half, Dixie began to knife thru the Carlisle 2nd half man to man defense and get most of their points in the paint. Carlisle's offense continued where they left off in the first half - looking for open girls close to the basket. This quarter ended with Carlisle up 31-29.
In the 4th quarter Dixie post player York picked up 2 fouls in about a minute to give her a total of 4 for the game. This was a critical time to have a starter hobbled with 4 fouls. The lead was exchanged in the quarter and the game was knotted at 41 with about a minute to go. Carlisle had possession twice during this time and tried to set up plays, but the stingy Dixie defense held firm against the Indians sending the game into overtime.
To open the overtime period Ashley Stamper hit a timely trey, giving Dixie the early advantage. Now it was time for the defense to make a stand and Amanda York swatted away a pass inside to give Dixie a steal. Still Carlisle was able to come back and tie with about a minute left due to a Kelly Gregg free throw. On the ensuing possesion, Dixie's Barnes was able to hit a shot and gave Dixie a slim 2 point lead. Now Carlisle was forced to foul to get the ball back. In three possessions they fouled Jessie Dunn. Normally one of the best foul shooters on the team, Dunn struggled missing 5 of 5. Carlisle was trying to angle for a play, but couldn't generate points off of the aggressive Dixie defense. They sent Terri Barnes to the foul stripe with 10 seconds left, she made the first shot but missed the second. However, she got her own rebound and was able to run valuable seconds off of the clock. Barnes's final three points were the margin of victory as the Hounds won a thriller 47-44.
After the game coach Meinking commented that, "Since it was senior night, everyone wanted to put their best effort out for the seniors. We had a decent first half, the third quarter hurt, but that has been a mental thing this season." She also added, "It was a big game for Barnes, her shooting in the overtime really helped out." The two seniors were asked what they would like to tell their younger teammates. Barnes said that, "I hope that they can go out with more victories than we did." Stamper stated that, "They should play hard as a team and make memories." Both agreed that they hope that their teammates continue to have fun as a team.
Dixie scoring: Barnes 20, Stamper 11, Dunn 6, Thomas 4, York 4, Salyer 2. Dixie reserves won 32-22, bringing their record to 10-7, Scoring Witt 9, Brown 10, Diehl 4, Sanders 2, Milliken 2.
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