Lady Mavs provide early upset
Emily Mustard seals win in OT to beat top-seed CHS
Anderson County’s Emily Mustard gets a short hook shot off against Clinton last Friday. The sophomore standout led the team in scoring and put in a layup to seal the win in overtime for the Lady Mavericks.
That adage was never more true than last Friday night. In both regular season games, the Lady Dragons emerged victorious over Anderson County.
On paper, Clinton was a clear favorite to win. However, the game wasn’t played on paper and the No. 4 seed Anderson County Lady Mavericks upset the No. 1 one seed Clinton Lady Dragons 58-54 in overtime.
From the perspective of the fans, it was a great game, and both teams gave an all-out effort. The game featured eight lead changes and was tied six times. The biggest lead for either team was seven points, and it truly was a shame someone had to lose.
“It was a great game to be a part of; both teams made big shots, played hard, and played physical,” said Mitch Cupples, head coach of the Lady Mavs. “You can’t ask for a better tournament game.”
Alicia Phillips, Clinton’s head coach, said:
“AC was just a few points from winning three or four more games. They’re a good basketball team and they played well. It’s tournament time and anything can happen.”
The Lady Dragons began the game on a 7-0 run as Bailey Burroughs opened scoring after both teams had multiple missed shots. Allie York then sank a 3-pointer and added a basket.
The Lady Mavs answered with a basket from Emily Mustard and a 3-pointer from Jaylynn Bullock. Kylee Alvis tied the game at 7-7 with just 59 second left in the first quarter.
After Belle Starnes nailed a 3-pointer to give Clinton a 10-9 lead with just eight seconds left in the quarter, Alvis dropped in a trey at the buzzer to put Anderson County up 12-10.
In the second quarter, Alvis, Mustard, and Lydia Meldrum each hit a 3-pointer while York added a 3-pointer for the Lady Dragons. Sarah Burton added a couple of baskets to send the game into halftime with the Lady Mavs up 21-19.
Anderson County opened the third quarter on a 5-0 mini-run, but Sydney Herrell hit a 3-pointer and Burton added a basket to cut the Lady Mavs’ lead to 26-24.
It was a theme both teams followed throughout the quarter as Mustard hit a trey and Herrell answered with a trey.
Clinton ended the quarter on a 9-0 run on scoring from Burroughs and York, who added a 3-pointer during the run to give the Lady Dragons a 36-31 lead.
The Lady Mavs rode the scoring of Bullock, Meldrum, Rowan Smith, and Shelby Kelly on a 7-2 run that tied the game at 38-38 with 4:26 remaining in regulation.
Meldrum added a pair of 3-pointers and Bullock added a free throw to give Anderson County a 47-41 lead with 1:44 remaining in regulation. Burton hit a 3-pointer of her own and with 30.1 seconds on the clock, then York tied the game at 47-47 with a 3-pointer. Both teams had scoring opportunities in the closing seconds but came up empty as the game went into overtime.
Mustard opened the scoring in the extra frame with a trey and Kelly hit two free throws to put the Lady Mavs up 52-47. The Lady Dragons refused to go away and clawed their way into another tie when York and Herrell each hit 3-pointers to make it a 54-54 game with 54 seconds left in the period.
Kelly gave Anderson County a 56-54 lead with a basket at the 29.3 mark of overtime. A missed shot and Lady Mavs rebound led to a long pass and allowed Mustard to seal the game with a lay-up with just 3.1 seconds on the clock.
“Defense did a great job of limiting their best player [Burton] from getting a lot of shot attempts,” Cupples said. “We rebounded well and didn’t turn it over too much. That was a key for us to keep the possessions kind of equal.”
York led all scorers with 19 points, while Mustard led the Lady Mavs with 18 points, while Meldrum had 13 and Bullock 10.
Anderson County was scheduled to face No. 3 seed Halls on Tuesday in the district tournament. The Courier News will have the results and game story in next week’s edition.
The Lady Mavs will host a region game Friday at 7 p.m., being guaranteed to finish no worse than second place in the district tournament. At press time, the opponent, either Gibbs or Carter, was still to be determined.
AC 12 9 10 16 11 58
CHS 10 9 15 11 7 54
AC - Emily Mustard (18), Lydia Meldrum (13), Jaylynn Bullock (10), Shelby Kelly (8), Kylee Alvis (8), Rowan Smith (1)
CHS - Allie York (19), Sarah Burton (9), Bailey Burroughs (9), Sydney Herrell (9), Belle Starnes (8)