By Matthew Watkins, Sports Correspondent
The Glencoe Yellow Jackets took a trip up the mountain to take on Sardis this past Tuesday evening. The matchup doesn’t have area implications, but any game between two Etowah County teams always carries its own brand of importance.
The varsity girls matchup featured two teams with vastly different team builds. Glencoe has had success this season despite Head Coach Blake Badgett having a more youthful team than he’s used to, and Sardis’ Heath Cullom has been able to lean on an experienced roster full of upperclassmen.
The opening quarter felt like two quarters, with Glencoe’s Kinlee Montgomery pacing the Yellow Jackets with two big three-pointers. Sardis had some success as well with some early three-pointers of their own, but it felt like neither team could remain consistent.
That is until about the 3-minute mark of the first quarter, when Sardis blew things open with a 15-1 run, taking a 24-7 lead into the second. The Lady Lions connected on four three-pointers in the opening quarter, with each of them coming from a different player.
This big run would prove to be the theme of the rest of the first half, with Sardis holding Glencoe in check to the tune of just 6 second-quarter points. The Lady Lions led it 38-13 at the half. They caught fire again in the third, pouring in 24 more points, 9 of them coming from Delaney Lee, who ended the game with 11 points. The Yellow Jackets had their best stretch of the game in the third as well, scoring 13 points, but the Sardis lead was too much to overcome. The Lady Lions would cruise to a 67-30 victory, moving them to 9-6 on the season. Glencoe fell to 7-4. Sardis’ Jacee Holcomb led her team with 15 points, and Vada Willmore finished just behind her with 14. Glencoe’s Kinlee Montgomery finished with 19 points, leading all scorers.
The boys’ side of the action started in a similar fashion, as Head Coach Richie Lee’s Lions started out hot by jumping out to a 19-9 lead. Lucas Montgomery, who would lead all scorers with an incredible 31 points, helped the cause with 14 of those opening 19 points.
However, Glencoe’s Ryan Chambless has always fielded teams that know how to battle. They countered the Lions’ hot start with an 18-7 margin in the second quarter, giving them a 27-26 edge at the halfway point.
The game remained tight down the stretch, due in large part to Glencoe’s Grant Smith. He would end up leading Glencoe with 28 points, and 8 of those came in the third quarter. His defensive presence was also a huge factor, helping the Yellow Jackets limit Montgomery to just 5 points. Sardis would take a 43-40 lead into the fourth quarter, where they would inevitably extend their lead to as high as 10. Glencoe, despite an extremely tough effort, was never able to cut the lead to lower than 8, and Sardis was able to guarantee a 63-53 victory, moving them to 7-7 on the season. Glencoe fell to 9-5.
Both teams will be in action again this evening, as Glencoe will host West End and Sardis will travel to Southside.
