Date: Saturday, January 23 2010

Solid defensive effort boosts MHS girls

By JIM STEELE, Editor pressbox1.com

McKENZIE, Tenn. - Using some halfcourt pressure and a stellar defensive effort, McKenzie cruised to an easy 65-39 victory over visiting Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central Friday night. The victory was a perfect start to basketball homecoming. The McKenzie boys claimed a thrilling 44-43 victory in the nightcap and Becky Jones was crowned homecoming queen. McKenzie forced 17 first-half turnovers, turned those miscues into points and shot fairly well. The Lady Rebels were 9-16 shooting in the opening frame and crafted a 21-8 lead. A 15-3 run torward the end of the second quarter gave McKenzie a 41-13 lead at the half. Late in the third, McKenzie eclipsed the 35-point barrier and the clock ran continuously in the final stanza. McKenzie coach Dan Ridley praised his team's defensive effort. "Best effort of the year," said the coach. "I wasn't happy after Tuesday night and Wednesday and Thursday weren't pleasant. They could have hung their heads, but the girls responded well." Ridley said his team's practices have gotten longer. "Toward the end of the season, you'd think we'd cut practice time back, but our practices are two-and-a-half hours every day and I think the work we're doing on shooting is paying off," said Ridley. "I think we have  chance to be a tournament team if we continue to work." Lady Rebel senior Alex Gray had 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks and continues to be strong inside. Trevatia Bowden had four steals to go with her 11 points. Many of those points came off the half-court pressure McKenzie threw on Central. "That press is an old thing I got from (former Bradford coach and current Gibson County mentor) David Russell years ago that we pulled out of the bag," said Ridley. "We're not athletic enough to press 94 feet so we have to shorten the floor a little bit and play a little more containment." Crystal Doub scored 12 points, Kelsey Carr, Angelique Teague, Olivia Pate and Evan Hudgins each scored six. Mickenzie Beasley scored two and Bridget Neisler scored one. Brittany Farley scored 12 to lead the Lady Tigers. Nikki Walker scored nine, Hayley Jordan, Kristen Lane and Alexis McCauley each scored five, Alex Chapman scored three. The Lady Rebels will host Dresden 6 p.m. Tuesday then head to Huntingdon Friday.