Hounds Run to Victory
J. C. Tilton
The 2003-2004 Basketball season got under way last Friday when the Lady Hounds visited North. Coming into the game Coach Meinking thought her team was focused and ready to play. The Hounds didn't do well at their last scrimmage on Monday. But the team responded by having a good week of practice. Meinking also noted that on the bus ride to Lewisburg that the girls were determined and ready to start the season. Teri Barnes of Dixie scored the first basket of the season and the Hounds lead from that point until the ending buzzer.
Both teams opened with a man to man defense and Dixie did press in the first quarter. North tried to keep pace, but couldn't figure out the pesky Hound defense. Midway thru the first quarter, North attempted to respond by pressing Dixie. But Dixie quickly broke the press and North was forced to abandon that tactic. At the first quarter it was Dixie 15, North 7.
In the second quarter, Dixie really opened up the game. They garnered a lot of points off of turnovers and their team speed kept North off balance. In addition, North was playing a little out of control as they committed a lot of first half fouls. They sent Dixie to the foul line with double bonus at about the 5 minute mark of the 2nd quarter. This would be a factor in the second half as North players had to play less aggressive defense to stay out of foul trouble, or had to sit to keep from getting a 4th or 5th foul. Dixie got into a good rhythm and scored 21 points in 5 minutes to North's 2. This broke the game open and at the half Dixie led 44 to 14. Their half court defense and 3/4 court trapping kept North off balance the whole quarter.
In the second half both teams opened with zone defenses. North did try and press again. It was a slower paced quarter. North seemed to have settled down and managed to work the ball inside a few times. They were less foul happy in the second half. Still the team tread water in the 3rd quarter, not able to make a dent in the Dixie lead. The 4th quarter was the best quarter for North - they scored 13 points. The team showed flashes of what they were capable of doing, but the more experienced and quicker Dixie team had the upper hand the entire evening. The final score was Dixie 72, North 35.
Scoring for Dixie was balanced with 4 girls in double figures: Stamper 16, Dunn and Barnes both had 15, and York with 13. Also scoring were Nelson 4, Salser 3, Thomas 6. High points for North was Wilson with 12. Followed by Estep 6, Oldham 5, Ward 3, Graf 2, Savage 2, Blankenship 2, Green 1.
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