Lady Buffs, Rangers come on strong
By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR CORRESPONDENT
The Little Milligan Lady Buffaloes were down
for the count.
Coming into their game with Keenburg early Wednesday
afternoon, the Lady Buffs didn't find a shot to their liking
in the first half of their contest with the Lady Tigers.
However, the team responded in the second half
with a strong 26-18 comeback win.
"We didn't deserve to win it," said Little Milligan
coach David Cable, "We got lucky and really didn't look like
we wanted it. But we came out and saw the light at the end
of the tunnel and played hard. We've got to regroup before
we play Unaka tomorrow."
Jessica Trivette and Natasha Bunton came out
with an aggressive first quarter for Keenburg, as they pressured
the Lady Buffaloes defensively and held them scoreless.
But Little Milligan began a run behind Mandy
White and Caroline Mauck to come within striking distance
of the Lady Tigers. It was a sign of things to come.
Andrea Tinsman lit the scoreboard up for the
Lady Buffaloes with a solid 13-point performance in the second
half, despite everything Kattie Harrell and Nanette Manz had
for Keenburg, including a last second buzzer-beater from downtown.
It gave Little Milligan the boost they needed
to take the win and advance forward against Unaka for the
small school girls championship.
UNAKA (BOYS) 70
LITTLE MILLIGAN 27
Look out Central, the Unaka Rangers are coming.
After a close first quarter against the Little
Milligan Buffaloes, the Rangers pushed ahead with a strong
offensive prowess in their 70-27 victory last night at Snavely
Gym to advance forward for the small school championship.
"We're trying to get used to a big floor and
it's taking us awhile," said Unaka coach Mark Revis, "We've
got to correct some things and eliminate them before tomorrow
night against Central. It will be tough. Central played us
tough the last time we met, we need to come out ready.
Little Milligan was tough to overcome early behind
solid offense from Austin Harper and Daniel Campbell, but
ten first quarter points from Brandon Roper along with swift
buckets from Kyle Wilson and Andrew Church made a big difference
as the Rangers took an 18-10 lead.
Joey Sheets and Jeff Peters led Unaka in the
second and third quarters as they racked up the offense on
the Buffaloes. Campbell, John Price and Gregory Sams put out
a concrete effort for Little Milligan, but the Rangers had
their number.
Church and Andrew Taylor swept off a fourth quarter
for Unaka as they moved forward against the Comets tomorrow
night.
"We played pretty good," said Joey Sheets, who
led the Rangers with 15 points, "But we could've played batter.
It's the win that counts really. I hope we go in tomorrow
night with our minds straight and play like we did tonight."
Said Brandon Roper: "We didn't come out as good
in the first quarter, but we played better later on. Our press
was effective. Central will be a tough game tomorrow, we've
got to play our best."
Campbell led Little Milligan with his 13 points,
while Andrew Church and Kyle Wilson had ten a piece for Unaka.
