(by Don Meador)
One word describes the Allen County-Scottsville effort against Greenwood on Senior Night, February 13, at Patriot Gym. The word is balance. Four Lady Patriots were in double figures in scoring and four players were nearly even in the rebounding column. The result was a 77-68 win for the Lady Patriots over the Lady Gators.
Avery Morris led the way with 18 points---with half of her points coming at the foul line. Morris also grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. Senior Kyra Marr’s night included a career-best 15 points and five rebounds. Allison Ford enjoyed a Senior Night to remember with a career-high 13 points and five rebounds. Senior Debora Patrick chipped in 13 points and hauled down five rebounds despite playing much of the game in foul trouble. Senior Payton Marr recorded a career-best nine points. Senior Addy Law added seven points while leading the team with six rebounds---the six rebounds matching a career high.
The Lady Patriots would need the balance to record their 18th win of the season---the most since the 2019 team won 20 games. AC-S opened the game sinking eight of their first 13 shots. Buckets by Kyra Marr, Patrick, Morris, and 3-pointers by Ford and Morris were instrumental in AC-S racing to a 21-10 lead. The hosts’ lead stayed in the double-digits the remainder of the first half. Ford’s second 3-pointer of the night pushed the Lady Patriot lead to 16 with just under three minutes left. By intermission, AC-S owned a 40-27 advantage.
Led by Anzlee Hendrix---a once youth manager for the Lady Patriots---Greenwood remained within striking distance in the second half. Trailing by 13 to start the final eight minutes, Greenwood closed to within seven, 60-53, with 6:20 left. A Ford basket and two free throws from Law pushed the AC-S lead to 12 with 3:39 left. A jumper from Hendrix, a basket from teammate Kamber Morgan, and another Hendrix hoop and the Lady Gators were again within seven with 2:26 remaining.
Morris answered for the Lady Patriots. A free throw, lay-up, and another foul shot enabled the Lady Patriots to build a 10-point lead with just over a minute left. Greenwood once again closed to within seven following a free throw by Morgan and a Hendric basket. However, two free throws by Law with 19 seconds left secured the win for the Lady Patriots.
AC-S finished the game 24 of 51 from the floor for a 47.1% mark. The team sank eight of their 21 shots from 3-point range. At the line, the Lady Patriots were 21 of 26 (80.8%). Greenwood made 26 of their 65 shots from the floor (40%) including seven 3-pointers. The Lady Gators (12-13) were nine of 13 at the stripe for 69.2%. Hendrix led all scorers with 26 points.
The Lady Patriots (18-7) close out the regular season with a road game at South Warren (8-15) on February 17 and a home contest versus Clinton County (7-16) on February 19. AC-S faces Warren East (11-13) in the opening game of the District 15 tournament on Monday, February 23 at Glasgow High School.