Stout-Shoun combo bad news for G-Pitt

By Allen LaMountain
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

   MORRISTOWN -- The backcourt tandem of Kari Stout and Kelly Shoun could not be contained by the Gatlinburg-Pittman Lady Highlanders or seemingly Morristown East's gym, as the pair combined for 48 points in a 69-58 victory on Monday.
   The win sends Hampton to the regional semi-final on Wednesday, where they will face the winner of the Claiborne County/Unicoi County match.
   "We did not deserve to win the way we played," lamented Gat-Pittman head coach Merle Parton. "We couldn't contain Stout, and we didn't take advantage of second-opportunity shots. Hampton wanted it more."
   That was a theme that would resonate throughout this contest as the 'Landers - carrying into the game a decided height advantage - failed to convert on its overwhelming offensive rebounding in the first half.
   Gat-Pittman had seven offensive rebounds and failed to convert on all but one as the Hampton defenders swarmed to the ball.
   "We want it, we want it real bad," said Shoun, referring to how the Lady Bulldogs were able to get themselves righted on the boards despite the discrepancy in size. "We do the little things, box out, chase shots. We just want it."
   With Stout contributing 16 points and Shoun 13, the Lady 'Dogs went into the break with a 34-22 lead as G-P shot just 8-of-21 from the floor (38.1 percent) and post Katie Parton struggled offensively with nine first-half points.
   Parton got back to her game in the second half, however, finishing with 23 points on the night along with nine boards.
   The Lady 'Landers closed the Hampton lead to 44-40 in the third period before a Shoun three-point bomb gave the Lady 'Dogs a 47-40 lead going into the final stanza.
   Stout opened the fourth quarter by completing a three-point play and G-P's Sarah Webb answered with a trey. Stout and Lynnsey Channey exchanged buckets before Shoun struck again from long distance to give Hampton a 55-45 lead.
   With Hampton leading 50-41 at the 3:25 mark of regulation Stout took over the game, scoring on a driving baseline shot and a 3-pointer sandwiched between a bucket by Parton at the other end of the floor.
   That gave the 'Dogs a 55-43 lead.
   "She's tough. She's a very good player and she's also a very good team player," said Lady Bulldogs head coach Leslie Campbell. "Amanda Finney I thought did a good job rebounding, and this team does the little things. We forced them to play our game when we broke their box and one defense by hitting some three's."
   G-P closed the game out on a pair of free throws by Amy Krein and a trey by Channey. Point guard Tabitha Arwood had a terrible night shooting just one-of-16 from the floor - including one-of-two treys.
   South Greene 89
   Happy Valley 59
   The Lady Warriors simply lacked the team size to matchup successfully against the Lady Rebels as South Greene forced the smaller backcourt of Happy Valley into 22 turnovers.
   The Lady Rebels had four players score double figures as Jessica Archer had 17, followed by Pashan Presnell with 15, Heather Haney 13 and Megan Gammon 12.
   Terra Whaley enjoyed a nice outing, scoring a team-high 15 points and taking down six boards for HV. Kandra Roberts finished her prep career scoring 15 points.
   "South Greene's press gave us some problems," said Lady Warrior head coach Ben Godsey. "They switched it up on us back and forth. South Greene is very physical and they showed that tonight. We hung in there and I'm proud of the effort the kids gave."
   South Greene led 47-26 at the half and extended to a 69-42 advantage after three quarters.
   To their credit, the game Warriors played hard right to the end, and with a lot of young talent returning next year, Happy Valley could be a dark-horse team next season.
   "We have some young kids here and we like the way they play," said Godsey. "Terra Whaley stepped up and played maybe her best game."
   Lady Rebel head coach Larry Ricker gave the Warriors a lot of credit for their efforts, saying, "I thought Happy Valley played hard. They never quit and they were able to score a lot of points on us. Archer and (Nikki) Hawk just controlled the offensive boards."