After a 5 game losing streak that dated back to a win over Cumberland County on the final day of 2009 the Lady Raiders picked up their sixth win of the season 55-52 last Monday evening in a close battle at home against Knox Central.
McCreary trailed by two after three quarters of play but tied the game at 38-38 when Holly Stephens dished to Kayla Morgan for an easy lay in early in the fourth quarter.
Knox went back on top briefly as Kayla Shelton scored two of her game high twenty-four points but the Lady Raiders responded with a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to as much as 47-40.
Senior Chelsea Smith opened the run with a basket and Holly Stephens followed with her fourth three pointer of the game at the 4:48 mark.
A little over a minute later Stephens was sent to the line for two free throws after the Knox Central coach was called for a technical foul. Stephens hit both and was followed to the line by freshman Lindsey Vanover who capped off the ensuing possession with her two charity shots to give McCreary the 47-40 lead with 3:23 to play.
The Lady Raiders still held a 49-43 advantage after a fast break basket by Smith with 2:26 to play but a flurry of trips to the foul line led to the shrinking of the Central lead. Over the next 1:20 the Lady Panthers went to the line nine times, making six of them while Lady Raider freshman Candance Foster hit just one of four attempts during the same span.
With under a minute to play Knox had an opportunity to take the lead after a McCreary turnover but an errant pass found it’s way out of bounds to turn the ball back over to the Lady Raiders with :48 seconds to play and a one point lead.
Central was able to play keep away and effectively run half of the :48 off the clock before the Lady Panthers finally fouled Foster to stop the clock. Foster had hit her first three free throws of the game before the one of four shooting that helped Knox close the gap from six points to one. This time though her shots found the net as she knocked down both attempts to put McCreary up 52-49.
Shelton then attempted a drive to the basket for the Panthers but she could not get the shot to fall and ended up committing her fifth foul on the rebound. Shelton had scored twenty points in the second half including 15 of Knox Central’s 19 third quarter points.
Chelsea Smith went to the line with :17 remaining and hit one of two shots to give Central a 53-49 lead.
Needing points in a hurry and without their leading scorer Lady Panthers guard Elizabeth Barrett who had yet to score in the contest kept her team in the game by draining a three pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to 53-52 with eight seconds left to play.
McCreary got the ball inbounds to Stephens who was immediately fouled. The senior guard calmly sank the final two of her sixteen points on the night but it only gave the Lady Raiders a three point lead.
The Lady Panthers pushed the ball up the left side before reversing it across to the right wing where Jessica Sanders launched a potential game tying shot just ahead of the horn. Her shot however bounced off the back of the rim to give the Lady Raiders their first win of 2010 and their sixth of the season.
McCreary had led the entire first quarter as Foster scored six points to lead Central to a 15-12 advantage at the break but back-to-back three pointers by Rachael Scalf gave her Knox Central their first lead of the game, 18-15 two minutes into the second quarter.
A Lady Raider three pointer by Foster tied the score and then the Lady Raiders retook the lead on a pair of free throws by Kayla Morgan and a basket by Roxie Watters.
Barrett hit one of two free throws to end the 7-0 McCreary run but Stephens ended the half with a pair of three pointers in the final seventy seconds of the half to give Central a 28-19 halftime lead.
The lead remained relatively the same for the first half of the third quarter but the Lady Panthers shut down McCreary for the final 4:22 of the period which enabled them to come from a 36-27 deficit to take a two point, 38-36 lead by the end of the quarter.
Shelton scored her team’s first ten points of the quarter as well as seven of the Panther’s points during the 11-0 run that gave them the lead.
Holly Stephens scored 16 points led McCreary and Candance Foster added 15.
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Chris Hollis
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