Range tops Little Milligan
By Marvin Birchfield
STAR CORRESPONDENT
It was the Range Rebels that rose up and shot
down the Little Milligan Buffaloes in a 55-42 victory at Range
Elementary on Thursday night.
"We came away with the victory by having a strong
defense," said Range coach Kevin Grindstaff. "Everybody played
their positions along with their area, and they played a smart
game tonight."
The Rebels jumped out to a 4-0 lead when Dustin
Tolley made the steal and took it in for the score.
The herd of Buffaloes came storming back when
Austin Harper hit the foul-line jumper, which became Little
Milligan's only lead of the game.
Range was able to gather their composure in the
last three minutes by scoring eight unanswered points, with
Charles Guinn leading the way.
Guinn was able to grab the rebound and connect
with the goal and draw the foul to put the Rebels out in front.
Kevin Jesse added a bucket before the end of
the first, making it 12-4 in favor of Range.
Little Milligan made a run in the second period,
when Jamie Burchett poured in five of the Buffaloes seven
field-goals.
The hustle of Guinn and Tolley enabled the Rebels
to maintain their lead by six going into the half 25-19.
Range found success in bringing on pressure with
their defense, which enabled them to get some easy lay-ups
on the other end of the floor.
"We put some pressure on the ball, and we were
able to get our hands on it," said Grindstaff.
The Buffaloes acquired some offensive spark from
Jamie Payne in the third quarter, but the duo of Jesse and
Guinn was too much for Little Milligan to contain.
The pair combined for a total sixteen of the
Rebels eighteen points, which were scored to put them up 43-33
heading into the final period.
"The main thing was we didn't make any stupid
plays, and tonight our team made the intelligent shots and
looked for the openings," said Grindstaff.
Range kept their distance in the fourth quarter
with Michael Stone stepping up, and adding a couple of scores
to their cause, as the Rebels captured the win.
"I would like to congratulate Range on their
victory, and there's just a lot of things we need to work
on right now," said Little Milligan coach Mike Odom.
Lady Buffaloes 59
Lady Rebels 22
The Little Milligan Lady Buffaloes stampeded
into Range to trample the Rebels by a 37-point margin.
"Tonight was the first time that we've run the
press, and it worked really well," said Little Milligan coach
David Cable.
Danielle Gilbert scored the Buffaloes' first
basket, from inside the paint, to give them lead, but Tina
Adcox answered with a bucket of her own to pull the Rebels
even in the first minute of play.
In the rest of the period it was all Buffaloes,
as they went on a 22-2 run, which was contributed to a relentless
fullcourt press that put them up 26-4 at the end of the first
period.
"I was trying to let them play in first quarter,"
Cable said. "They put up 26 points, which was good, but we
still missed some open shots."
Gilbert knocked down 12 points while teammate
Jessica Price had eight herself, with both of them being unstoppable
on the boards.
The Rebels couldn't quite narrow the deficit
in the second period, as they were just two of eight from
the free-throw line.
Heather Allie was a factor for the Buffaloes
in the second by scoring six of their eight points after getting
the ball down low and kissing it off the glass.
Little Milligan held a 22-point lead rolling
into the half by the score 34-8.
The start of the third period was all Buffaloes,
as they devastated the Range offense by holding them scoreless
throughout.
Gilbert hit the first four shots to lead the
attack with the 14-0 shutout.
Range came out in the last period outscoring
the Buffaloes 14-2 in the first half of the quarter with buckets
coming from Brittany Renner and Christy Moffitt.
The Buffaloes responded by scoring the last eight
points, with Andrea Tinsman capturing five of those.
"I think we will do pretty good in our class,
but any team can beat another on a given night," said Cable.
