On Thursday, Sand Rock faced a physical Gaylesville Lady Trojan team and trailed for a quarter and a half before establishing a rhythm. The Wildcats went on an 18-4 run in the third quarter to claim a 66-34 victory.
Like it did in its season-opening win against Sylvania, Sand Rock overcame struggles at the free-throw line. The Wildcats connected on 11-of-25 free throw attempts in the first half and finished 14-of-31 from the charity stripe for the game.
“We panicked when we couldn’t hit a shot in the first half,” Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates said. “We talked to them at halftime about settling down, and in the third quarter we made our run. We changed up the defense on them and some personnel a little bit, and we got a good spark from the press. It got us flowing in our game, and then we hit some shots. The third quarter made a difference.”
While the third quarter belonged to the Wildcats, it was Gaylesville (1-1) which jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. Sand Rock managed to take its first lead of the game with 3:59 to go in the second at 20-18 on a pair of free throws from Gena Farmer. Farmer finished 13 points, 13 rebounds and five steals.
The Wildcats maintained the lead for the remainder of the half and led at the break 26-22.
Gaylesville tied the game at 26 with 6:46 to go in the third on a layup by Kaitlyn Hammett, but Sand Rock closed out the third on a 18-0 run.
The run was aided by the absence of Gaylesville senior guard Krysta Nichols, who was forced to sit after picking up her fourth foul with 7:35 left in the third. Nichols finished with five points, three rebounds and a steal.
Amber Moseley led the Trojans with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Hammett had six points and two steals. Casey Stone also netted six points, and Olivia Matthews finished with four points, seven boards, an assist and a block.
Lana Bell led Sand Rock with 17 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Amber Henderson scored 13 points – all in the second half – to go along with seven boards. Carrie Robertson tallied seven points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Paige Ashley and Emily Ozment both had five points, with Ozment adding eight boards. Feleisha Soignet finished with four points, seven steals and three assists.
“I’m loving being balanced like this and being able to look down our bench,” Bates said. “It helps my confidence, but I’d still like for us to be able to play a complete game instead of just a half. But, a win is a win and we needed that.”
Boys
Sand Rock 79, Gaylesville 24 – Chad Thompson scored 17 points and Riley Norris and Justin Kyser both tossed in 14 to lead Sand Rock in a rout of Gaylesville Thursday.
The win evened the Wildcats record at 1-1, while Gaylesville dropped to 0-2.
“There’s still a long way to go, but we’re getting better,” Sand Rock coach Brian Mackey said. “We tried to get our inside game going a little more tonight instead of just jacking threes. Of course we shot a bunch of threes too, but our shooting was better. Everything was going better.”
Sand Rock jumped out to a 20-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter and led 39-10 at the break.
Matt Graham added nine points for the Wildcats. Brannon Burt came away with seven points and Cliff Bailey finished with six points.
Clay Joseph led the Trojans with 17 points.
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