Lions figure ways past Big Sandy

Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 12:00 pm
By: Lions figure ways past Big Sandy

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
Dresden swept its way to a pair of big wins over Big Sandy, despite a recurring problem for the Lady Lions and a high-scoring first quarter that kept the Red Devils close in the boys’ game.
The Dresden girls got another District 13A win on Friday night with a 58-43 win over Big Sandy, but foul trouble that has haunted the Lady Lions in recent games occurred once again.
Lady Lions’ head coach Jonathan West had to go to his bench once again and turn to his younger players after three players got into foul trouble.
“This has been a problem for us lately,” West said. “It has been happening on the defensive end, where we have not been very good this season.”
Freshman forward Kayla Hayes picked up her fourth foul midway through the second period and did not return to the game until the start of the fourth period. Junior guard Amy McAlpin also picked up her fourth foul at the end of the third period and returned to game with two minutes left.
“One game it is Carrie Hatchel getting into foul trouble, and the next it is Amy,” West said. “Tonight it was Amy and Kayla. Some of these fouls are the result of not playing smart.”
The Lady Lions are now 13-4 on the season and 9-2 in the district. Big Sandy falls to 9-11 and 5-6 in the district.
It looked like the Lions were going to have a big fight on their hands with the Red Devils after an explosive first period from both teams. Dresden cranked up the game on both sides of the court and wore down Big Sandy after the first period for an 87-49 decision to reach double-digit wins on the season with a 10-6 overall record and 7-3 in the district.
“A big factor of that is they played the previous night,” Dresden boys’ head coach Tommy Dilday said. “Everybody missed Tuesday night, and that put everybody in a bind to make up those games. That was probably something to do with it and I like think that we got down and started guarding them a little bit better.”
Five Dresden players scored in double figures to put on an offensive show. Austin Daniel got the game-high with 26 points.
The loss drops Big Sandy to 8-13 overall and 2-9 in the district.
Both Dresden squads will be back at home tonight to take on McKenzie, giving the Lions a chance to get back at the Rebels after McKenzie handed the Lions their first defeat of the season back on Dec. 11.
Dresden 58, BS 43 (G)
There was nothing wrong with the Lady Lions on the offensive end of the court on Friday night, but they had some problems on the defensive end against Big Sandy and Luz Mena.
The Lady Red Devils post player was forcing the issue against Dresden on the offensive boards and drawing fouls in process. Hayes fouled Mena with 3:56 to play in the first half for her fourth foul.
“We did not defend very well at all on defense, and that resulted in a lot of fouls being called against us,” West said. “That Mena kid was a reason for it. She was consistently beating us on the offensive boards.”
Mena finished with 21 points and hit 8-of-11 from the line.
Hatchel matched Mena in points with 21 to share the game-high. Hatchel lit up the scoreboard in the first half with 14 points, 12 coming off of the four 3-pointers she hit in the first half.
Hatchel hit three treys in a row in the first period to get the Lady Lions offense into high gear. She hit those three long-range shots in just over a minute to give Dresden an 11-3 early lead.
Dresden led 17-7 after one and 27-17 at the half. Big Sandy picked up its pace on offense in the third period thanks to some 3-points shots and outscored Dresden 16-15 in the period.
The Lady Lions were able to maintain a double-figure lead on Big Sandy through most of the second half. Hayes returned to game at the start of the final period and promptly hit a short jumper to make it a 43-33 game. She finished with four points.
Hailey Browning had a little seven-point run of her own for Dresden on a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer and a drive to the basket to give the Lady Lions a 51-38 lead with just under four minutes to play. She scored 11 points for Dresden.
Dresden iced the game in the last three minutes at the free throw line by hitting 7-of-8. Dresden went 20-for-23 at the line for the game. Dresden went 15-for-18 at the line in the second half.
Dresden 87, BS 49 (B)
It looked like the Fourth of July with all of the offensive fireworks in the first period between the Lions and Red Devils — with Dresden getting a louder bang.
The Lions got a basket each from Kaleb Houston and Kourtney Sawyer to end the first period and take a 22-18 lead. Dresden did not stop there as the Lions went on an 11-point run with Daniel scoring six points to make it a 29-18 game with 5:03 to play in the half. Daniel had a big night with a game-high 26 points.
“Austin was really active tonight and that is what we have been looking for him to do,” Dilday said. “We have been wanting him to be moving more without the ball, and tonight he did and ran the floor well.”
The Lions took over the game in the second period with a 26-point scoring outburst and led by 19 at the half with a score of 48-29.
Houston made it a 30-point lead for Dresden in the final period on the back end of a pair of free throws. Dilday put his younger players in with just under four minutes to play after the Lions had the game well in hand.
Austin Maxey scored 14 points for Dresden, followed by Houston’s 13 and Sawyer’s 12.
Published in The WCP 1,22.13