By Chris McCarthy/Editor
When your opponent is so far behind that the game clock is kept running during the fourth quarter, you’ve had a successful night in high school basketball.
Such was the case at Gadsden City High on Tuesday (Nov. 10), as both the boys and girls teams cruised to easy victories over Pell City in Class 6A, Area 9 action.
The Lady Titans (10-1, 2-0) registered a 60-13 win, while the Titans (6-3) rolled to a 67-33 triumph.
The GCHS girls forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter in racing out to a 23-4 lead. Haley Troup scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first half as the hosts took a 41-9 lead into halftime. The Lady Panthers managed just one field goal during the second quarter, and that basket came with 25 seconds left in the half.
Troup went 7-for-8 at the free throw line.
Takara Blount scored six of her 12 points in the third period as Gadsden City went ahead 56-11.
“Our pressure got to Pell City a little bit, and we got some easy baskets in transition,” said GCHS head coach Jeremy Brooks. “We mixed up about three different pressure defenses in the half court, and that was effective. I was really pleased how we ran the floor and shared the ball. We had just two people in double figures, so we spread the ball around.
“We’ve got one or two new players and we’re doing a few new things, but we’re still a long way from where we need to be. We’ve got a good team, but it’s all relative to your competition level, and we’ve got some pretty good teams staring at us on our schedule down the road.”
Taylor Tucker added seven points for Gadsden City, while Dajia Williams and Kiari Keeney each finished with six. Kenney pulled down nine rebounds, while Troup and Blount each had four steals.
In the boys game, Chris Dudley scored eight of the Titans’ 23 first-quarter points, with the visitors managing a basket with 10 seconds left in the period. Dudley finished the game with
Kalin Johnson then took over the scoring reigns, dropping in 14 of his 17 points in the second quarter. He sank three 3-point baskets during that stretch, including a buzzer-beater that gave the hosts a 46-9 halftime lead.
Gadsden City (6-3, 2-0) stretched its advantage to 55-23 after three quarters, while Josh Juddine scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Chris Dudley added nine points for GCHS.
“Our goal is to get better with every ball game, and we did that tonight,” said GCHS head coach Reginald Huff. “We’re working hard and getting confident in our defense, and as long as we can do that, we’ll going to be satisfied. We have some guys who can play with anyone in the state, but we need to work hard in practice and give out the same amount of intensity and effort in every ball game.”