Macon County Basketball Action
The Macon County High School basketball programs have started the New Year off right.
They hosted Westmoreland and Central Magnet and traveled to York Institute.
The Tigerettes faced the Lady Eagles for the second time this season. Trying to avenge a 34-46 loss back in November, the Tigerettes came out flat in the first but stepped up their game to lead 23-14 at the half. A big 3rd period, led by Lyndsey Belton, staked the Tigerettes to a 59-46 win over Westmoreland.
Scoring for Macon was: Briley Driver 8, Leah Anderson 10, Reese Shrum 7, Paige Clark 9, Lyndsey Belton 17, and Kyndall Bullington 8. Marisa Owens and Kassidy Brooks both played but did not score.
Scoring for Westmoreland was: Gracie Oliver 9, Haley Cook 6, Jessica Eppstein 2, Kaitlyn Norman 17, and Karley Smith 12.
The Eagles came ready to play and jumped out to an 11-7 lead after the opening period. Aided by woefull shooting by the Tigers (2 of 14 in the 2nd), Westmoreland led 17-13 after a sloppy turnover filled half. That trend continued in the 3rd and Macon just managed to outscore Westmoreland in the final period to gut out a 41-37 win.
Scoring for Macon was: Evan Perrigo 13, Michael Ashburn 7, Seth Carlisle 9, Trace McPherson 10, and Alex Hill 2. Clay Carnahan, Matt Austin, and Tyler Carlisle all played but did not score.
Scoring for Westmoreland was: Michael Evans 3, Brad Evans 5, Ben Goolsby 3, Caleb Graves 14, Justice Graves 5, Zeke Webb 3, and Dalton Leath 4.
District 8AA rival Central Magnet came to town on Jan 6th, with a top 5 girl’s ranking in the mid-state in AA. The Tigerettes played well as both teams played tough defense. Despite trailing by 5 Macon cut the deficit to 2 and trailed 21-23 at the half. The game would continue nip-and-tuck until mid-way thru the 4th when the Tigerettes scored on three straight possessions and Central did not. The Tigerettes played one of their most complete games of the season and won 51-41 over a good team.
Scoring was Clark 8, Shrum 5, Driver 12, Anderson 14, Belton 9, and Brooks 3. Bullington, Owens, and Sarah Carter all played but did not score.
The Central Magnet boys did not win a conference game last season and sadly for those kids, I don’t think they will this year either. Coach Jason Welch let the dogs out enroute to a 64-30 win. The Tigers did pretty much what they wanted and everybody got into the game.
Scoring was: S. Carlisle 5, Ashburn 12, E. Perrigo 16, McPherson 6, T. Carlisle 7, Clay Carnahan 14, and Jed Coley 4. Austin, Hill, Riley Phillips, Heston King, Cole Carnahan, Matt Young, Cayden Shrum, and Luke Perrigo all played but did not score.
The always looked-forward-to trip to York took place on Jan 9th. The Lady Dragons have only won one district game so far this season. The Tigerettes took advantage of this opportunity with 4 of their 5 starters scoring in the opening period and all 5 staking them to a 23-17 halftime lead. It might have appeared to be over with Macon leading 36-26 beginning the 4th quarter. The Tigerettes make 15 of 21 free throws in the final period to grab the win. Final score Macon 57 York 42.
Scoring was: Clark 7, Shrum 7, Driver 16, Anderson 17, Belton 7, Brooks 1, and Owens 2. Bullington, Carter, Luci Allen, and Keeley Clariday played but did not score.
The Dragons are competing for the #1 seed and a regular season championship, so this game should prove telling. The Tigers started off slowly shooting 6 of 24 from the field in the first half. Even with the slow start Macon trailed 20-23 at the break. The Tigers took the lead 35-34 beginning the 4th period but just could not muster enough offense, shooting 3 of 8 and 2 of 3 from the free throw line. The Tigers drop a crucial district game by a final score of 43-45.
Scoring was: S. Carlisle 10, Perrigo 10, Austin 10, McPherson 4, T. Carlisle 7, and Hill 2. Ashburn and Clay Carnahan played but did not score.
Macon County High School continues their march thru District 8AA. Tuesday Jan 13th they travel to Smith County, Friday they host Livingston, and they play Clay County on Saturday the 10th. The Tigers are currently 13-5 and 4-2 in 8AA(t2nd) while the Tigerettes are 8-10 and 3-3 in 8AA(5th).