Lady Bulldogs fall to Hartville and Thayer, claim victory over Lockwood
Gainesville senior guard Shelby Smith goes up for two points at Saturday’s win over Lockwood. Smith led the scoring with 13. Photo by Karla Smith.
The Gainesville Lady Bulldogs fell to Hartville and Thayer and then came back to defeat Lockwood last week.
When the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Hartville Lady Eagles on Jan. 22, the varsity girls lost 48-44, and the junior varsity team came up just short with 15 points to Hartville’s 16. “The girls competed really well and demonstrated the ability to guard well against a quality opponent.” said GHS coach Morris Jenkins. “We needed to cut down on our turnovers and improve on our free throw shooting to really give us a better opportunity to win this game.”
Players scoring for Gainesville were Aspyn Britt 13, Elizabeth Kin-worthy 12, Shelby Smith 10, Cassie Carlo 6, Shayla Wages 2 and Erin McKinzie 1. Natalie Kiger led in rebounds with 5, and Kin-worthy, Carlo and Wages pulled off 4 each. Britt led in assists and steals with 6 and 5, respectively.
In the JV game, Brexton Miller scored 6 points, Ashley Poe brought in 3, and Danni Cummings, Teagan Broderick and Patience Naegele each scored 2.
The Lady Bulldogs were defeated 61-54 in their Jan. 25 home games against a tough Thayer Lady Bobcats team. “We dug an early deficit but battled back to take a one-point halftime lead. Second half was back and forth but came up just a little short,” said Jenkins. “This game was a great example of a team maintaining poise and staying the course.”
Shelby Smith was the lead scorer with 15. Aspyn Britt scored 11, Cassie Carlo 10, Elizabeth Kinworthy 9, Shayla Wages 8 and Natalie Kiger 1. Carlo, Kinworthy and Wages each had 4 rebounds. Britt led in assists with 5, and Britt and Wages had 3 steals each.
“I thought overall we executed fairly well against a very good Thayer team,” Jenkins said. “When handled correctly, losses such as the last two can really help a team grow. I’m confident this team will take these two games and use them to keep battling as we move toward district.”
The JV suffered a 37-33 loss against the Lady Bobcats. Shayla Wages brought in 14 points, followed by Brexton Miller with 9, Patience Naegle 5, Ashley Poe 3, and Gracie Strain 2.
The Lady Bulldogs came out on top, 47-41, against the Lockwood Lady Tigers at Southern Baptist University on Jan. 27.
“Lockwood entered this game with a 15-2 record on the season – so obviously another quality opponent,” said Jenkins. “I thought we did a much better job moving the ball. Because of that, our scoring opportunities were good. Defensively this group always tries to compete, and this game was no exception; they got big stops down the stretch and also knocked some key free throws in the last minute of the game. It was a really good team win.”
Players scoring for Gainesville were Shelby Smith 13, Elizabeth Kinworthy 12, Aspyn Britt 10, Cassie Carlo 6, Shayla Wages 4, Natalie Kiger 2, and Erin McKinzie 2. Kinworthy and Carlo both had 7 rebounds, while Britt and Wages both had 6. Britt led in assists with 7 and had 2 steals.