Back off — Gleason’s Kim Edenfield (left) tries to avoid Lady Red Devil Katie Bivens during the Lady Dawgs’ win Friday night. Edenfield was clutch at the free-throw line in the game’s waning minutes, hitting 7-of-9 attempts. | | By Sara Reid
Special to The Press
It was all a matter of survival for both Gleason High School squads against the South Fulton Red Devils Friday night on the hardcourt in South Fulton.
Both Gleason teams left Obion County with victories, but in opposite fashion. The Lady Bulldogs started strong and held off a late South Fulton run to win, 50-36, and in the second contest, the visiting Bulldogs used a fourth-quarter comeback to take a 51-47 victory.
Taylor Stout started the scoring for GHS in the first contest and a successful three-point play by Jenna Frazier helped the Lady Bulldogs to a 5-0 lead. Meghan Eaves broke the run with a free throw, but Gleason used a 9-0 run including six points from Stout to take a commanding 14-1 advantage after one.
In the second quarter, the Lady Red Devils were limited to free throws for the entire quarter. Though the home team connected on all six attempts, the visitors doubled up on the points, out-scoring South Fulton 12-6 to take a 26-7 halftime lead.
Gleason opened the third with four points, but SF pulled a run behind seven points from Chelsea Cox. Riley Auvenshine scored eight points, including two threes, for Gleason and helped the visitors to a 40-22 lead after three.
South Fulton opened the last frame with Brooke Kane’s successful conversion of a three-point play. Cox followed with a layup and the Gleason lead was cut to 13 at 40-27. With 2:43 left to play, Cherissa Vinson knocked down a trey for SF to again cut the lead to 13 at 43-30. Kim Edenfield took over for Gleason on the charity stripe hitting 7-of-9 free throws and leading her team to a 50-36 win.
Auvenshine led Gleason with 13 points. Stout had 12. Vinson scored 12 for South Fulton.
In the second game, Ben Sumner opened the scoring for the Bulldogs. David Shepherd’s putback tied the contest. The game remained tied for the better part of the first quarter until a layup from Jonathan Avent gave the Red Devils the 6-4 lead with just under a minute left.
Ben Rollins made good on a rare four-point play to give Gleason the 8-6 lead, but Shepherd hit a three to put South Fulton ahead 9-8. A Sumner steal and layup put Gleason ahead 10-9 after one.
In the second quarter, the Red Devils surged ahead on back-to-back layups from Avent and Jonathan Clouse. The score seesawed throughout the quarter and with 39 seconds on the clock, Preston Frazier sank a pair of free throws for the Dawgs to tie the score at 19. Connor Hicks answered with a layup, but Gleason’s Colin Bennett hit a layup and got fouled with 6.1 seconds left in the first half. He missed the free throw and Drew Greer drilled a three at the buzzer to give South Fulton the 24-21 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, the trend continued. The Red Devils led 28-25 with 5:42 left in the frame. A Sumner putback brought Gleason within one, 28-27. The Bulldogs held on and tied the home team at 31, but South Fulton took the 33-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Gleason spent the better part of the final quarter in the double bonus. With the score tied at 40, a pair of free throws from Bennett put Gleason ahead 42-40 and a layup from Sumner increased the lead, 44-40. A free throw from Jacob Wade and a three-point play from Shepherd, however, tied the score yet again.
With 1:18 left in the contest, Bennett converted a three-point play to put the Bulldogs ahead 47-44. He hit an additional free throw with 50.8 seconds to increase the lead, 48-44, but Greer hit a three to bring the home team closer at 48-47. From there, it was up to Bennett and he delivered from the foul line to seal the 51-47 victory.
Bennett led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Sumner scored 14. Avent had 11 for South Fulton. Jan. 4 at South Fulton
GIRLS
Gleason (50) — Riley Auvenshine 13, Taylor Stout 12, Maggie Lowrance 10, Kim Edenfield 9, Jenna Frazier 5, Ashley Coble 1.
South Fulton (36) — Cherissa Vinson 12, Chelsea Cox 9, Brooke Kane 5, Meghan Eaves 4, Katie Bivens 4, Laura Dowdy 2.
3-pointers: Gleason — Avenshine (3), Lawrence (2); South Fulton — Vinson (2), Eaves.
Records: Gleason 11-4 (7-2 District 14-A); South Fulton 6-9 (5-4 District 14-A). BOYS
Gleason (51) — Colin Bennett 21, Ben Sumner 14, Evan Orr 7, Ben Rollins 6, Preston Frazier 2, Cody Ezell 1.
South Fulton (47) — Jonathan Avent 11, David Shepherd 10, Drew Greer 8, Hunter Harris 6, Jonathan Clouse 4, Jacob Wade 3, Connor Hicks 3, Holden McConnell 2.
3-pointers: Gleason — Rollins; South Fulton — Greer (2), Avent, Shepherd.
Records: Gleason 3-12 (1-8 District 14-1A); South Fulton 1-14 (1-8 District 14-1A). |
