Lady Mavericks’ ‘amazing run’ comes to end against Lady Eagles

March 2, 2022 by Richard Evans

The Anderson County Lady Mavs’ bid to win the District 4-3A tournament championship fell just short last Tuesday, in a loss to Halls 48-43.

“We missed opportunities,” said Mitch Cupples, head coach of the Lady Mavs. “We missed some shots, missed some free throws, and missed some assignments on defense. That’s what happens in a close game at tournament time.”

Scoring was at a premium for both teams in the first quarter as Jaylynn Bullock hit a 3-pointer to give Anderson County the early lead at the 6:01 mark, and Lydia Meldrum scored a basket off of a steal to make it a 5-0 with a little over four minutes to go in the quarter.

The Lady Red Devils were extremely patient on offense, taking time to find the right shot. They took the shots but none fell early. Halls finally got on the board on a traditional three-point play with a little over two minutes remaining in the quarter. Neither team scored the rest of the way but the Lady Mavs held a 5-3 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Both offenses came to life in the second quarter. The highlights for Anderson County included three 3-pointers from Meldrum and baskets by Bullock, Kylee Alvis, and Emily Mustard.

The Lady Mavs led 22-18 at the half.

A 3-pointer by Bullock and scores from Meldrum and Alvis gave Anderson County a 30-25 lead before the Lady Red Devils closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 33-32 lead.

Mustard and Bullock led a 7-2 with 2:12 remaining in the game to tie the score at 41-41. Just seconds later, Bullock was injured while driving for a lay-up. She and two Halls defenders hit the floor hard but there was foul called. The Lady Devils took a brief 43-41 lead before Mustard tied the game at 43-43 with 57.5 seconds left in the game.

Halls sank a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left to take the lead. Anderson County missed several shots late and the Lady Devils managed just two free throws in the closing seconds but it was enough for the win.

Meldrum led all scorers with 16 points while Mustard had 12 points and Bullock 11. All three were named to the All-Tournament team.

AC 5 17 10 11 43

Halls 3 15 15 15 48

AC - Lydia Meldrum (16), Emily Mustard (12), Jaylynn Bullock (11), Kylee Alvis (4)

Halls - Ella Tharpe (15), Megan Biliter (11), Bailey Roberts (7), Cierra Huff (5), Raegan Corvette (4), Sophie Tharpe (3), Blayke Holbert (3)

On Friday night, the Lady Mavs won their opening game of the region tournament with a 47-27 victory over visiting Gibbs.

It was the third time this season Anderson County beat the Lady Eagles.

The Lady Mavs opened the game on an 11-2 run as Meldrum, Mustard, and Alvis provided the scoring to give Anderson County a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Defense was the name of the game for the Lady Mavs in the second quarter as they held Gibbs to just two points in the quarter. After Bullock opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and Meldrum added a free throw, the Lady Eagles scored at the 4:54 mark of the quarter. From there, Anderson County closed out the quarter on a 12-0 run as Mustard, Alvis, and Bullock provided the scoring to give the Lady Mavs a 29-7 halftime lead.

When the third started, Anderson County came out flat. The half-court offense was marred by turnovers and missed shots as the Lady Eagles opened the quarter on a 6-2 run. They later added a 7-2 run to make the score 33-19 in favor of the Lady Mavs. Alvis, Meldrum, and Shelby Kelly sparked a late 7-0 run to push the Anderson County lead to 40-22 at the end of the third quarter.

Gibbs cut that lead to 40-27 before the Lady Mavs closed the game on a 7-0 run.

“We came out after halftime up 29-7 and having beat them twice [in the regular season], our girls relaxed. I warned them at halftime to not relax and come out and play well. It’s easy to relax in that situation but they earned that right, getting that game and getting it at home on Friday night,” said Cupples.

Alvis led all scorers with 15 points while Meldrum added 14.

Gibbs 5 2 15 5 27

AC 13 16 11 7 47

Gibbs - Dakota Large (10), Brenna Taylor (9), Jadyn Parker (4), Addison Merritt (3), Maddi Whaley (1)

AC - Kylee Alvis (15), Lydia Meldrum (14), Jaylynn Bullock (7), Shelby Kelly (6), Emily Mustard (5)

The season came to end for the Lady Mavs with a 49-25 loss to Seymour Monday night at Halls.

“Seymour was definitely the better team tonight. They’ve a very good team. I knew it was going to be tough tonight and it didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Cupples said.

After Alvis opened the game with a 3-pointer to give Anderson County the early lead the Lady Eagles responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game. The two teams traded baskets as Kelly converted a traditional three-point play but Seymour used the 3-point shot and managed to go up 16-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Mustard and Alvis scored early in the second quarter to help the Lady Mavs to within three at 19-16 but the Lady Eagles answered with an 11-1 run to take a 30-17 halftime lead.

The third quarter started with a scoring drought for both teams until Seymour nailed a 3-pointer at the 4:27 mark of the quarter. They opened the quarter on a 9-2 run with Alvis scoring the only points for Anderson County in the quarter. After three, the Lady Eagles led 44-22.

Alvis scored the Lady Mavs’ only points in the fourth quarter as Seymour controlled the ball and ran out the clock.

“We’ve had an amazing season. These girls have surprised me in so many ways - on the court and off the court - the way they treat each other and the way they play together,” Cupples said.

“I told them in the locker room, ‘I’m the most blessed person in the room.’ I didn’t even know I was going to be doing this in July but now I’ve got to go on this amazing run with these amazing kids and I couldn’t be happier,” Cupples said.

“All the credit goes first of all to God, He’s blessed us so much this year but also to girls. They could have given up and given in and been frustrated by the whole situation with the coaching change but they accepted me,” he said.

Alvis led all scorers with 17 points, closing out her high school career.

“She played great. She was so aggressive and strong around the basket. She’s an amazing young lady. She’s been through some tough years. They won one game her sophomore year and four games last year. A lot of kids would have been negative but she was always positive and worked hard and never questioned anything,” Cupples said.

The Lady Mavs finished the season 19-17 after winning only five games combined in the previous two seasons.

AC 10 7 5 3 25

SHS 16 14 14 5 49

AC - Kylee Alvis (17), Emily Mustard (5), Shelby Kelly (3)

Seymour - Kaylynn Jarvis (12), Jaden Cummings (8), Bailey McCoy (8), Emma Watson (7), Brielle Turner (5), Caiden Russell (4), Kaylen Scholtz (4), Kelsey Cruz (1)