By Michael Lindsay
Hot Start Leads Dragonettes To 68-21 Victory Over Smith County; Reese Beaty Leads York With 20 Points
Thursday’s matchup of UCR top-5 ranked girls teams belonged to York Institute as the #1-ranked Dragonettes ran away with a 68-21 victory over the #5 Smith County Lady Owls.
“We came out like we wanted to come out,” said York Institute head coach Michael Green. “We didn’t know what defense to expect from them and we were ready for anything. It was senior night, so a few of our normal starters came off the bench and started knocking down some outside shots against their zone.”
Smith County scored the game’s opening basket before the Dragonettes took control and jumped out to a 26-4 lead via a Reese Beaty layup with 2:01 left in the opening period.
York held a 31-6 after one quarter and didn’t stop there as the Dragonettes opened the second period on a 15-0 run to lead 46-6 midway through the frame.
“We made some adjustments to our press after watching some film,” said Green. “We had a really solid first half.”
A Cali Franklin three-pointer with 8 seconds left in the second quarter gave York a 53-8 lead at halftime.
York’s Emma Cooper scored the first basket of the second half to give her team a 55-8 advantage. The Dragonettes held a 59-18 lead after three quarters before winning by a 68-21 final margin.
Leading the way for York was Iowa State signee Reese Beaty with 20 points followed by 16 points from Cali Franklin and 8 points each from Emma Pile and Emma Cooper.
“We’re starting to gel with Reese back,” said Green. “We were a great team before Reese got back (from injury). Those first few games were a little sloppy, but as we go we’re getting better and better.”
Pile hit a pair of first-quarter three-pointers on Thursday to follow her school-record 47-point performance against Monterey on Tuesday in which she hit 15 three-pointers. Pile also hit five treys against Cookeville on Monday for 22 total three-pointers in three games.
“Emma broke a school record on Tuesday and played less than three total quarters,” said Green. “She’s been lighting it up and hit some big shots. She’s not the only one, though.”
Up next for York Institute is a home game on Saturday against Class 4A #2 Coffee County (28-0, 10-0) at 1 p.m.
Smith County Holds Off York Institute For 63-56 Victory; Gage Gibbs Drops 24 Points
The Smith County Owls (12-16, 6-2) wrapped up their 2024-’25 regular season Thursday evening as they traveled to York Institute and defeated the Dragons (3-19, 3-5), 63-56.
“It’s nice to see them understand the moment, especially a young team like we have,” said Smith County head coach Layne Bussell. “We have one kid that played significant minutes prior to this year, so we’ve got new kids walking out here in a new system with a new coach and they’re doing a good job playing as a team.
“We’ve been a pretty poor road team this year,” added Bussell. “We’ve won a few district games on the road, but other than these, it’s not a lot. We found a way to gut through this; York played a great game tonight. (York guard) Brody Choate was almost impossible to stop. Overall, I’m pleased to go on the road and get a win.”
Sophomore Gage Gibbs led the Owls with 24 points while Choate led York Institute with 21.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Smith County held a 14-11 lead entering the second period. The Owls pushed out to a 28-21 lead late in the second quarter before York’s Coen Gibson hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cut his team’s deficit to 28-24 at halftime.
“Some of York’s players really stepped up and made some shots that didn’t at our place,” said Bussell. “York answered every time we went on a run, but we found a way.”
York pulled within one possession (30-28) early in the third quarter before the Owls went on an 8-2 run to lead 38-28 with 5:18 left in the third period.
The Dragons again clawed back within a possession as a Choate jumper with 1:01 remaining in the third quarter cut Smith County’s lead to 41-39.
The Owls weren’t done in the third quarter, however, as they went on a 9-0 run capped off by a Gibbs buzzer-beater from beyond half-court to close out the frame with a 50-39 lead.
A Tyler Jones three-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave Smith County a 53-39 lead, but York again battled back as they cut trimmed their deficit to 5 points (61-56) with 1:32 remaining, but got no closer as Smith County held on for the 63-56 victory.
Up next for each team is a rematch in the District 5-2A tournament next week at Monterey High School.
“A week from Friday, we’ll play York again in the 2 vs. 3 game,” said coach Bussell. “I’m expecting coach Rodney Pile to make some adjustments and have a good game plan for us.”
