Smith County Wins Region Quarterfinal at Monterey, 58-47; Addie Hawkins Scores 21

By Michael Lindsay

 

The Smith County Lady Owls are region semifinal bound following their come-from-behind victory at Monterey in Friday’s Region 3-2A quarterfinals, 58-47.

“That was a hard-fought game,” said Smith County head coach Matt Ferrell. “Monterey is senior-laden, and I told our girls we can’t be in a situation where it’s one or two possessions late because they’ll make some plays. When the going got tough, we responded.”

Smith County (13-17) was led by 21 points from point guard Addie Hawkins. Elle Haughton also posted double figures with 10 points.

“Addy Hawkins played well and made free throws late,” Ferrell said. “Elle didn’t score like she’s usually capable of, but she does everything else for us. She rebounds and guards the other team’s best player. She did a great job on Lindsey Wright, who’s had a heck of a career here. It was a team effort and they’ve bought into that the last few weeks.”

Monterey had three scores in double figures including Kelsi Flanigan with 14, Abbie Sasser with 12 and Lindsey Wright with 11.

It was Monterey who controlled the early portions of Friday’s quarterfinal as they jumped out to a 9-5 lead midway through the first period.

Smith County fought back to take an 11-9 lead via a Chloe Collins basket before the Lady Wildcats answered with a Wright three-pointer and Sasser basket off an inbound pass to take a 14-13 advantage to end the first quarter.

The teams traded baskets early in the second period before another Sasser layup off an inbound pass put the Lady Wildcats up 25-20 with 2:33 left until halftime.

Facing their largest deficit of the game, Smith County quickly responded with 7 points over the next 1:20 to take a 27-25 lead via a Julia Dickerson three-pointer.

Smith County and Monterey traded baskets late in the second period until Hawkins banked in a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Lady Owls a 32-27 halftime lead.

“Within the last two or three weeks we’ve started putting together late-quarter situations,” Ferrell said. “Early in the year, we were losing games at the end of every quarter. The girls battled and finished the half strong.”

Monterey opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run as a Wright three-pointer put the Lady Wildcats up 33-32 with 4:32 left in the period.

A Hawkins basket with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter snapped a nearly 5-minute scoring drought for the Lady Owls and gave Smith County a 34-33 lead.

The basket was the first of an 11-1 Lady Owl run to close the third quarter as Smith County led 43-34 entering the fourth period.

“We were getting them to do what we wanted, then we’d have a mental breakdown,” Ferrell said. “Four of us can’t be on the same page and one not or they’re going to get something easy. In the third quarter, we snapped out of that.”

Monterey wouldn’t go away quietly as the Lady Wildcats opened the fourth period with a three-pointer from Flanigan and back-to-back baskets by Sasser to pull within one possession (44-41) with 5:34 remaining.

Smith County’s Hawkins answered Monterey’s run at the free-throw line on the ensuing possession to extend her team’s lead out to 46-41 with 5:09 left.

The Lady Owls stepped up defensively as they held Monterey scoreless for over 3 minutes in the fourth period. A Collins free throw and back-to-back Airyn Enoch layups extended Smith County’s advantage to 51-41 with 2:08 remaining.

The Lady Owls took care of business from the free-throw line in the final two minutes as they won by a 58-47 final score.

Friday’s game was the finale for one of Monterey’s most successful teams in program history as the Lady Wildcats finished the season at 14-18 overall. The 14 wins are the most in a season since 2007-’08. The Lady Wildcats made back-to-back district championship games led by senior and program all-time leading scorer Lindsey Wright.

For Smith County, a rematch with Westmoreland awaits in Monday’s Region 3-2A semifinals for the second consecutive season. Smith County has reached the region semis twice since 2018.

 

Smith County (57): Addie Hawkins 21, Elle Haughton 10, Merissa Spivey 9, Chloe Collins 7, Airyn Enoch 4, Julia Dickerson 3, Abigayle Hackett 3

Monterey (48): Kelsi Flanigan 14, Abbie Sasser 12, Lindsey Wright 11, Zoey Gore 7, Lydia Phillips 2, Allie Benjamin 1

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