| By KEVIN WEAKS
Messenger Sports
Obion Central’s boys put away Milan in the third quarter.
The Lady Rebels didn’t wait that long.
With a 24-7 blitz fueled by fullcourt pressure defense and transition baskets, the OC boys blew past the Bulldogs for a 67-47 win Friday night at Troy.
The Lady Rebels were basically done by the end of the first quarter with a 26-6 lead on the way to a 63-38 verdict.
Central’s boys then lost 74-71 to Waverly on Saturday in the Eiffel Tower Shootout at Henry County High School.
Central’s girls continue their strong early season run, improving to 9-1 overall and 5-0 in District 13AA. The Rebel boys are now 6-5 and 3-2.
OC 67, Milan 47 (B)
Tweaking its fullcourt zone press, the Rebels exploded past the ’Dogs with 24 points, led by eight points from Zack King.
“We made a change and put Zack, who’s about 6-5, at the top of it, and they were having a hard time throwing the ball over it,” OC head coach Bill Kail said. “They had to throw it high, and we were able to run underneath and get some steals, which gave us some easy transition baskets.”
King scored inside twice, and Shaw Logan converted a three-point play for a 43-28 lead at 4:28. Logan then took a steal the other way for a layup five seconds later.
Central finished the period ahead 56-29.
The Rebels certainly played good enough in the first half, with Mike Klein hitting two of OC’s four 3-point baskets. Central finished with seven treys on the night.
The lead changed hands five times early in the first period before a triple by Bryan Morris gave Obion Central a 13-9 lead.
Central did not trail again, up 17-12 after one period and eventually building its lead to 12 points at 32-20 on a 3-pointer by Klein from the left corner.
“I just think our shots weren’t going in early,” Kail said. “We were something like 1-of-11 on threes in the first quarter. We were getting our looks, but we just weren’t hitting our shots. As the game progressed, we were able to get it to the open man and started making some shots. It seemed to steamroll after that for us.”
Milan hit a buzzer-beater to close the first half and then opened the third period with a basket to cut the margin back to single digits at 32-24.
King finished with a game-best 18 points, scoring 10 in the first quarter, while Klein and Morris had 13 each. Justin Creasy and Rushawn Mays scored 10 points for Milan (2-7, 1-5).
OC 63, Milan 38 (G)
A blowout from the outset ended early with a running clock in the fourth period.
Brandi Goodman scored a game-high 23 points, helping to get the Lady Rebels scoring the first nine points of the game.
Goodman and Paige Hicks scored inside, Shannon Wiggins popped a 3-pointer and Rachel Jones took a steal the other way for a 9-0 lead at 5:35 of the opening quarter. Goodman finished the quarter with 12 points, while Hicks added another trey and converted a steal as Central ran its lead to 20 points by period’s end.
Iva Estrada scored five of Milan’s six points in the quarter with a deuce and trey and went on to lead the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points. Meredith Fry, who ended with 13 points for Milan, hit four free throws in the second quarter.
Milan slowed the pace with a deliberate halfcourt game the rest of the way. Central got points from six players in the second period to build a 43-10 lead and stretched that margin to 58-24 after three quarters.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Waverly 74, OC 71 (B)
Waverly took a 20-14 lead after one quarter and then spent the rest of the game staying barely ahead of the Rebels.
The Tigers led 38-36 atthe half and 56-55 after three quarters.
Obion Central lost Morris at the beginning of the third frame as he was injured going up for a shot, suffering a bruised lung. He finished with eight points, all coming in the first half.
Logan and King topped the Rebels with 19 points each, King also grabbing 16 rebounds and Logan dishing out five assists. Published in The Messenger 12.17.12 |
