Lady Mavs fall to Powell in final before Thanksgiving
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Anderson County’s Lydia Meldrum gets the mugging on her way to a basket against Powell High School during the Lady Mavs’ final game before Thanksgiving. The home- standing Lady Panthers were just a little too much for Anderson County on the night, taking a 51-37 win. - Ricky Williams
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Anderson County’s Emily Mustard was fully involved in the pgysiacl play at Powell High School on the last game for the Lady Mavs before Thanksgiving break. - Ricky Williams
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Anderson County’s Shelby Kelly was fully involved in the pgysiacl play at Powell High School on the last game for the Lady Mavs before Thanksgiving break. - Ricky Williams
Illness ran through the Anderson County High School girls basketball program last week.
It may have affected the Lady Mavericks’ performance in their final game before Thanksgiving.
But Coach Mitch Cupples wasn’t about to make any excuses.
“We were just flat,” Cupples said after ACHS fell 51-37 to a Powell team that dressed just eight players on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at the Jeff Hunter Gymnasium in Powell. “We’ve had some sickness and we didn’t have school today, so some girls slept most of the day to try to get better.
“But we don’t make excuses. You have to come ready to play every night.”
Early on, the Lady Mavericks held the upper hand as they opened a slim 11-8 lead in the first quarter. But the Lady Panthers, despite their issues with lack of depth, wrested control in the second frame as they went on a 16-7 run in the stanza to take a 24-18 lead by halftime.
The Lady Mavs (1-3) then went on an uphill climb. They never regained the lead despite that the Lady Panthers lost another starter to injury when guard Adisyn Smith suffered a leg injury early in the first quarter.
Anderson County, which trailed, 35-27, heading to the fourth quarter, got as close as six points as Emily Mustard made the first basket of the final stanza to make the score 35-29 with 7 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the game.
But the Lady Mavericks wouldn’t come any closer.
“We were just flat and we didn’t have any energy,” Cupples said. “We finally started showing a little energy when we went into desperation mode. We finally picked it up.”
Shelby Kelly led ACHS with 10 points while Mustard and Lydia Meldrum added seven points each.
For the Lady Panthers, the win couldn’t have been bigger.
“This was a huge win for us,” Powell coach John Fisher said. “We came in with eight players and we lost a starter early in the first quarter. “We don’t have any depth, so this was big.”
Kryston Madison scored 19 points for the Lady Panthers. Reese Rolen had 12 and Anna White finished with 10.