Photo: Sardis High’s Kaitlin Morris (23) guards West End’s Montanna Mashburn during the Lady Lions’ 57-12 victory in the quarterfinals of the Etowah County Schools Basketball Tournament on Tuesday, Jan. 15, in Sardis City. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
The Sardis High girls put the pedal to the metal early on and never let up on the gas in the Etowah County Schools Basketball Tournament quarterfinals last Tuesday (Jan. 15).
The Lady Lions (10-4) limited West End to five field goals on the way to a 57-12 victory in Sardis City.
Kaitlyn Morris and Emily-Kate Jones each scored nine points in the first half as the hosts jumped out to a 17-2 lead after one quarter and a 35-8 advantage at halftime. Morris finished with 11 points and Jones and Molly Morris each chipped in eight as Sardis built a 53-10 lead by the end of the third quarter.
A running clock was used over the final eight minutes, with Kathryn Brooks knocking down a three-point basket to cap the Lady Lions’ 43-point victory.
Sardis advanced to the tournament semifinals, where the Lady Lions will face Glencoe on Thursday.
Head coach Josh Wallace was pleased with the scorebook, in which nine of his players netted points on their home court.
‘We’ve had a little lull in our season during which we didn’t play well at times, and tonight I thought I broke some of those bad tendencies. I like to play man-to-man defense, but we work on zone [defense] every day in practice and we had it working tonight. Our girls are sold out to the team, and sold out to each other, and that makes a huge difference.”
Kaylee Dobbins scored five points for the Lady Patriots.
“Any time that you play in your own gym, there’s excitement, and now you’re adding the county tournament to it,” Wallace added. “Etowah County basketball is big; it always has been and it always will be. To play a tournament of this caliber on your home floor is huge, and we want to do a great job as hosts for our kids and our community.”