by Rusty Ellis
The Macon County Tigerettes earned a dominant win on the road in Gordonsville on Tuesday night, as they took down GHS 66-45 in non-district action.
Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate in the first quarter, but after the game was tied at 5-5, Macon closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead into the second frame.
Gordonsville wouldn’t go away however, as they outscored the visiting Tigerettes 17-15 to cut the deficit to just 29-24 at half.
The third quarter is where Macon began to create separation, as they used an 18-11 advantage in the quarter to push the lead to 12 at 47-35 entering the fourth.
There, the Tigerettes continued to add on to their lead, as they snagged a 66-45 victory over the hosting Tigerettes.
Karly Ramsey led the way with 14 points for Macon County, while Natalie Green added 12. Libby Clark paced GHS with 14 points of her own.
For MCHS head coach Kailyn Thompson, she says she wasn’t pleased with how her team valued possessions, but it was offset by how they shared the ball on offense.
“I would like to say we took care of the ball, but we had more turnovers than I would’ve liked,” Thompson said. “The way we shared the ball though, we had 21 assists, which I’m really proud of…we had good ball movement on offense and we played really solid defensively. They knocked down some shots, but we didn’t let it discourage us.”
The end of the third and beginning of the fourth is where Macon began to create real separation on the scoreboard, something Thompson hopes her team can build on.
“We got defensive stops and we capitalized on them,” Thompson said. “We talk about that all the time, you can’t get stops and then go turn the ball over…we also ran well in transition so I think that helped us too.”
In the boys game, it was Gordonsville who held on for the win in 52-47 fashion over Macon County.
A low-scoring affair early saw the host Tigers take a four-point lead at 10-6 into the second quarter. That’s where Gordonsville turned their play up a notch at both ends, outscoring Macon 23-12 to take a 15-point lead into the halftime break.
Macon began to cut into the lead in the third quarter, as they trimmed the lead down to eight heading into the fourth, but Gordonsville continued to make free throws after the fouling began, leading to the home team holding on for the five-point victory.
Brayden Holliman led the way for Gordonsville with 15 points, while Macon’s Brady Driver paced all scorers with 25 points.
GHS head coach Greg Bibb was pleased that his team got the victory on Tuesday night, though admittedly it ended up being much closer than he liked.
“We looked liked we’d only had everyone together for two days,” Bibb said. “There were a lot of fouls in the first half, and we never really found a good rhythm…we did what we had to in order to win, and considering we’ve had two days together, I’ll take it.”
As far as some improvements he wants to see, Bibb was quick to talk about how his team needs to improve defensively.
“We’ve got to defend without fouling,” Bibb said. “We’ve got to learn how to pressure people without fouling…we’ve got to learn offensively how to find open areas. There were a lot of open areas in the middle tonight, and we just didn’t see them.”
Macon County’s next game will be on Nov. 29 against Clay County, while Gordonsville will battle Watertown on Nov. 28.
