By Rob Lee
Contributing Writer
DOVER – Western Boone Coach Willie Smith, Jr. was not happy with how his team finished its 45-33 win over Southmont Friday night. But the damage was done long before that.
The Stars led by as many as 22 in the third quarter and held off a late comeback.
“I was totally displeased with how we played from the 10-second mark in the third quarter to the end,” Smith said. “We’ve given Southmont the feeling they can play with us come sectional time.”
“I think attitude and effort were the keys (to the fourth quarter),” Southmont Coach Reasley Thompson said. “We didn’t give up and didn’t quit. After every loss, we said let’s not let this game dictate the rest of the season.”
The Stars led 14-7 after the first period and upped that to 25-12 at the half, thanks to a 7-0 run to begin the second period. That was playing without junior Lindsey Woody.
“She’s going to be out quite awhile,” Smith said. “This is her second concussion. The first was during soccer.”
Senior Kassie Yates led the Stars with 17 points. Elizabeth Sparks struggled, but led the Lady Mounties with 11. They were the only scorers in double figures.
“Yates definitely looks to score,” Smith said. “I can almost argue she can shoot the ball more. That’s one girl we have that can look to score without breaking the offense down.”
Western Boone’s 6-foot-4 senior Elizabeth Mercer was held to 4 points, but hauled down 11 rebounds, 10 off the defensive glass. She also disrupted what was a successful South inside game last week against Danville.
“Mercer has done a fantastic job on defense and blocking shots,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get her in the same aggressive attitude on offense.”
“We had to have strategy to not let someone like Mercer get in their heads,” Thompson said. “She is tough to shoot over.”
“We only gave up 45 points,” Thompson said. “We just need to score more.”
Amelia Rose added 7 for Southmont and Brooke McGaughey had 6.
“We wanted to start in a 2-3 (zone) to slow them up,” Thompson said. “We didn’t want to leave their shooters open. We didn’t rotate to cover that and we didn’t rebound quite as well out of the zone.”
Westerb Boone (9-2, 2-1 SAC) hit 20-of-51 from the field. The Lady Mounties (5-4, 1-1) could only manage 12-46, but outrebounded the Stars 37-33.
With Saturday’s postponement, the Lady Mounties do not play again until Jan. 5. Western Boone is off until Jan. 3.
