Defensive gem
Lady Mav ‘D’ came up big in win at Gibbs
Anderson County’s Lydia Meldrum dropped a team high 14 against Northview Friday night — two days after scorching Gibbs for 26 points. (photo:Tony Cox )
“It’s in my DNA from high school on up,” Anderson County head Coach Mitch Cuppples said of the defensive effort of his team. “It starts with defense and rebounding.”
The Lady Mavs had a run of 9-2 in the first quarter. Meldrum and Kylee Alvis knocked down 3-pointers and Shelby Kelly and Emily Mustard added baskets to give Anderson County a 20-11 lead. Meldrum, Mustard, and Rowan Smith scored in the second quarter to stake the Lady Mavs to a 29-22 halftime lead.
The Anderson County defense clamped down hard in the third quarter, forcing multiple turnovers. Meldrum poured in 12 points in the quarter and Jaylynn Bullock joined the scoring attack to give the Lady Mavs a 49-32 lead. Anderson County held the Lady Eagles’ scoring down until a late 7-2 run cut into the margin of victory for the Lady Mavs.
Meldrum finished with 26 points to lead all scorers, including six 3-pointers, while Kelly had 13 points.
AC 20 9 20 10 59
GHS 11 11 10 10 42
AC - Lydia Meldrum (26), Shelby Kelly (15), Emily Mustard (9), Kylee Alvis (3), Jaylynn Bullock (4), Rowan Smith (2)
Gibbs - Dakota Large (15), Addison Merritt (15), Natalie Surrett (3), Maddi Whaley (3), Jaclyn Parker (2), Brenna Taylor (2), Raley Qualls (2)
The Lady Mavs ended the regular season dropping a road game to Northview Academy by a score of 45-38.
“We had a hard time scoring early,” Cupples said. “We kind of struggled but we played good defense and rebounded well. It kept us in the game.”
Anderson County fell behind 12-7 in the first quarter, but on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers by Meldrum and scoring from Kelly and Mustard, the Lady Mavs cut the deficit to 20-17 at the half. Meldrum added two more 3-pointers in the third quarter while Kelly, Alvis, and Jaylynn Bullock each added a trey to help spark Anderson County to a 36-28 lead. Just as the Lady Mavs responded in the third quarter, Northview had an answer in the fourth as the team put up 17 points while Anderson County went cold from the floor, scoring only two points down the stretch.
Meldrum led the Lady Mavs with 14 points.
Anderson County (17-11, 2-4 district) opens district tournament play Friday by hosting the No. 1 seed, the Clinton Lady Dragons.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. The winner of the game will play Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. The loser of the game will play Monday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m.
AC 7 10 19 2 38
NA 12 8 8 17 45
AC - Lydia Meldrum (14), Jaylynn Bullock (8), Shelby Kelly (7), Emily Mustard (6), Kylee Alvis (3)
NA - Josie Horner (14), Reagan Brown (9), Leny Torres (7), Jordan White (7), Savannah Bates (2), Camryn Brown (2), Sarah Charkosky (2), Moe Harvey (2)