Lady Junior Cyclones pulverize John Sevier

By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR CORRESPONDENT
wholtsclaw@starhq.com

   The T.A. Dugger girls basketball squads came out with a vengeance Monday evening in two huge victories over the John Sevier Lady Warriors, with the eighth-grade squad taking a 46-12 win after the seventh-grade squad captured a 57-19 victory.
   "We hustled great," said TAD coach Angie Barker after the eighth-grade win. "I couldn't ask for a better defensive performance, even on offense - we just didn't follow through with some of our shots."
   The Junior Lady Cyclones bounced out early on John Sevier with a 10-4 advantage after the first period, led by good shooting from Marti Bush, Casey Crockett and Brittany Smith.
   Victoria Hopson and Bri Gouge nailed some crucial shots in the second for TAD, as it held the Lady Warriors to one point.
   T.A. Dugger continued its scoring in the second half with six third-quarter points from Gouge, as well as some good buckets from Courtney Towel and Tia Nave.
   Heather Houser led John Sevier with five points throughout the second half, but her squad could never get anything going offensively with a hard press from TAD.
   Nave led the Cyclones in the second half with six points, while Lindsey McAmis added a good shot for her squad.
   Gouge led T.A. Dugger with 12 points, while Nave contributed nine.
   7th Grade Girls
   T.A. Dugger 57
   John Sevier 19
   The seventh-grade girls simply annihilated the Lady Warriors in the opening contest.
   "We shot the ball very well," said Barker. "We ran the fast break well almost every time we turned around. Everybody stepped up and played excellent tonight."
   It was a long first quarter of scoring for both squads, as Leah Henson and Janey Robinson led a 23-point effort for TAD.
   Courtney Strickland and Reyna Morrell led John Sevier early, but a strong effort from Hanna Fritz, Jasmine Treadway and Kelli Culler pushed TAD to a strong 34-15 lead going into the second half.
   From that point forward, defense took everything out of the Lady Warriors. Strong play from Kyla Jones, Whitney Forbes and Mara LaPorte helped hold Sevier to two points in both the third and fourth quarters.
   Jones had eight points in the half, including six in the fourth, combined with strong play from Robinson to tack on the points late in the game. It led to an overwhelming victory for the Lady Cyclones.
   Robinson led all scoring with 14 points. Jones also scored in doubles with her 11 points, while Culler and Henson had eight apiece for TAD.