Showdown in Bee Town
Macon County was set to be on the road to face two district opponents.
They traveled to face Upperman on Jan 15th and Smith County on Jan 18th.
Tuesday evening marked the first chance meeting with Upperman and last year’s state champions. Many Tigerette fans made the trip hoping to see a different outcome than the five losses from last season to the Lady Bees, the last one in the AA State Championship.
The game started well as Macon led 8-2with about 4:20 left in the first period. Then the wheels fell off. The Tigerettes did not score another point the rest of the half and found themselves trailing 8-16 at the break.
Macon was faced with a huge challenge, with the physicality of play of this game, and simply failed to live up to the task. Macon shot 2 of 21 (9%) from the field in the first half, despite creating more turnovers and having more second chance points than Upperman.
They were able to cut the lead to 29-32 early in the 4th quarter but could not stop the dribble-drive-penetration of the Lady Bees. Upperman would win the first, with more to come in this district and region, by a final score of 37-29.
Scoring was: Jalynn Gregory 15, Keeley Carter 11, and McKaylee Mix 3. Jamie Ashburn, Abby Shoulders, Marah King, and Emily Ashburn all played but did not score.
The Upperman boys start one senior and four sophomores and they will be a handful for the next two years. However, the Tigers came out focused and played really good basketball. Macon led 10-8 after the 1st and trailed 25-26 at the half.
In the second half Upperman simply made more baskets that the Tigers. Each team had the same number of shots (52) for the game, the Bees simply made more (23 to 17). Upperman went on a 15-3 run in the 3rd that Macon simply could not oversome. Final score was Upperman 67 Macon Co 44.
Scoring was: Trent Cook 19, Clay West 10, Cameron Welch 6, Braydee Brooks 3, Gavin Clayborne 3, Kyson Herald 2, and Kelton Ballou 1. Noah Hale, Ethan Jenkins, Connor Johnson, Landon Colter, Cody Cothron, Brandon Jones, Noah Likens, and Dawson Shrum all played but did not score.
On Friday Macon would travel to Smith County. The Tigerettes got things going in the second quarter and pulled away to lead 31-19 at the break. Shooting much better they had little trouble the rest of the way, winning 64-35.
Scoring was: Gregory 18, J. Ashburn 14, Carter 11, King 6, Shoulders 5, Emily Ashburn 4, Taylor Ward 4, and Myle Crowder 2. Mix, Briea Crouch, Graci Scott, and Kinsley Arnett all played but did not score.
The Tigers rebounded well too. In a repeat of the girl’s game, Macon had a 17 point second period to double-up the Owls 36-18 at the half. Macon did what they had to do to get the win 61-46.
Scoring was: Welch 20, Cook 10, West 10, Johnson 8, Hale 4, Ballou 4, Jenkins 3, and Brooks 2. Herald played but did not score.
This week Macon will host Watertown on Tuesday Jan 22nd and travel to Woodbury to face Cannon Co. on Fri Jan 25th. Both contests will be district matches and are scheduled for a 6 pm tip-off.
