By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Glencoe didn’t appear to run out of steam – but the Yellow
Jackets did run out of time in Monday’s Class 3A Northeast Regional Tournament
girls basketball game at Jacksonville State.
Plainview had a huge first half and took a 58-54 win. At
intermission, the Bears led 37-21. Plainview got the lead to 41-21 at the 7:08
mark of the third quarter, which was when Glencoe started coming back.
“We were able to do what we wanted to do for a
half,” Bears coach Heather Powell said. “We knew that they were
bigger than us on the inside. In the third quarter, they started going to their
strength.”
That was proven by the number of points in the paint. In the
first half, it was almost tied, with the Bears outscoring Glencoe 18-16 inside.
For the second half, the Yellow Jackets had 16 in-the-paint points compared to
only four for Plainview.
“At halftime, we challenged the girls to show up and
play their “A” game,” Glencoe coach Yvette Sparks said. “We
had to regroup a little but I’m proud of the effort.”
Three times in the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets cut
the margin to four points – and with 34 seconds left drew within 57-54 on a
Sally Tinker 3-pointer.
“Glencoe used to be a fixture down here (at the
regional),” Sparks said. “This was our first trip in several years,
so I think we might’ve had stars in our eyes early on. I hope we can make a new
tradition of Glencoe being at Jacksonville.”
Tinker led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, four rebounds,
three assists and two steals. She hit 5-of-6 free throws and 2-of-5 3-pointers.
Her 10th point of the game was her 1,000th career point.
Jessica Rathje followed with 16 points and six rebounds. She
connected on all four free throw attempts. Kaileigh Billingsley had eight
points, seven boards and two steals.
Destiny Lowden paced Plainview with 24 points, while
Savannah Willingham added 11.