Lady Bears win

By JERRY SCOTT/Correspondent

One player does not make a team but when that one player is someone the caliber of Narrows’ Savanna Burton, it sure can make a difference.

After missing several games due to an injury, Burton recently returned to the Green Wave lineup and has led her team to some wins. Friday the 27^th was not one of them however.

With Narrows holding on for dear life in a 37-35 MED contest against neighboring rival Bland County, Burton drew her fifth personal foul with 3:33 remaining in the fourth quarter after having scored 10 points, grabbed numerous rebounds, and playing relentless defense from every spot on the floor. From that point on, Narrows was toast.

The Green (0-6, 6-10) did manage to go in front 38-37 during the next 1:11 following Burton’s exit but Bland County closed the game with a 13-0 run and scored a 50-38 triumph over the Green Wave to improve to 10-6 overall for the season, 4-2 in the MED and two games behind first place Galax.

Paige Brinkley came off the Bears’ bench to lead the scoring with 12 points with Alison Morgan and Alyssa Harris finishing with nine each. Harris also grabbed 13 rebounds. Morgan and fellow senior Jessie Blessing combined to go 15 of 17 from the foul stripe, including 11 of 13 in the final period.

Narrows led 5-2 early on before Kelsey Dinger fed Harris for an inside basket and later ripped the ball out of Andi Johnston’s grasp under the Bland County basket score easily, giving the Bears a 6-5 advantage just before the midpoint of the first quarter. A layup off a steal from Narrows’ Amanda Hagerman gave the Green Wave a 7-6 edge before a Harris free throw and a rebound bucket from Julia Davis had the Bears up 9-7 at the 2:34 mark.

Narrows’ Tiffany Perdue scored inside moments later to tie it up before the Green Wave opened up a pair of three-point leads before pairs of free throws from Brinkley and Blessing in the final 1:07 drew the Bears within 14-13 to start the second stanza.

The teams continued to trade points throughout the second session with the largest lead being five points by Narrows on two occasions. Perdue’s three-point play at 4:14 had Narrows up 22-17 and two Samantha Weatherly free throws made it a 24-19 game at 1:38 before halftime. Brinkley’s three-pointer and two Morgan foul shots in the final 50 seconds closed the Bears’ deficit to 26-24 at the break.

Bland County outlasted the Green Wave 9-8 in the third quarter to trail by a single point to begin the fourth stanza. Showing her importance to the team, Burton had six of Narrows’ points in the period. Her runner with 6:17 left in the stanza gave the Green Wave a six-point advantage and she later picked the Bears’ Amber Eaton for a steal and layup at 2:55 to keep the lead at six, 32-26. A free throw by the senior with 2:37 to go gave Narrows its biggest lead at 33-26.

Behind Brinkley, the Bears battled right back. Her second trifecta came at 2:03 to draw the Bears to 33-29. Dinger then aced two free throws at 1:35 and Brinkley hit from just inside the circle with two seconds left, capping a 7-1 burst that had the Bears within 34-33 heading to the fourth session.

A free throw by the Green Wave’s Kelsey Mosley gave Narrows a 35-33 edge before Harris and Morgan combined for four free throws to push the Bears up 37-35 with 6:34 left. After Burton prematurely exited at 3:33, Hagerman hit a jumper in the key with 2:33 to knot it up 37-37. Eleven seconds later, Narrows had it final lead at 38-37 on a Johnston foul toss.

From there the game was a foul-fest in Bland County’s favor. Morgan’s hit two from the line to give the Bears the lead for good 39-38 with 2:04 to go. That was followed by two pairs from the stripe by Blessing, one by Harris, two more from Eaton, another pair from Blessing, and a bucket at the buzzer by Harris that climaxed the game-ending burst.

Blessing finished with eight points for the Bears, all at the charity line. She also had three assists and Eaton had four steals.

For Narrows, Burton led the way with 10 while teammates Mosley and Perdue finished with nine and eight markers, respectively. Narrows bricked 12 of 22 free throws in the loss with Burton missing six.

Like the varsity, the Bears JV also improved to 10-6 as it mauled the Green Wave 48-30 in the quad-opener. Danielle Russo tossed in 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half as the Bears romped past Narrows 30-15, drawing away from their slim 18-15 halftime lead. Three Bears reached double figures with Kristen Dillow throwing in 14 and Savannah Slaughter 13. Included for Dillow were three three-pointers.

Megan Weatherly topped Narrows with 12 points and Cortney Smith tallied eight.