Savannah Houck
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – Hagerstown Girls Head Basketball Coach Chris Oliger had a big smile on his face Saturday afternoon after his team posted a 43-38 victory over Tri.
“Just a huge win,” Oliger said of the victory that keeps the Tigers in the hunt for the Tri-Eastern Conference title at 3-1 in the league and 8-4 overall.
The critical stretch came in the third period with the Tigers trailing 25-23 after Tri’s Payton Moore had given her team the lead with 5:16 on the clock.
“We had about a 2-3 minute stretch where we didn’t rotate right,” Tri Head Coach Jeff Miller said.
“In a game like this, it only takes about three possessions where they got the lead and changed things,” Miller added. “Their defense tightened up and they just made more plays.”
Hagerstown scored the next eight points to take a 31-25 lead when Savannah Houck capped the rally with her sixth point run the run with 3:03 left in the period.
“Savannah Houck played the best game of the year,” Oliger said. “(She was) attacking the basket, knocking shots down, being aggressive. Just a super ball game by her.”
Houck finished with 18 points and five rebounds.
“We made a few adjustments offensively,” Oliger said. “We went to one of our other offenses, so we would have Gabby (Willis) running baseline the whole time.”
The Titans battled back to cut the deficit to 33-30 late in the quarter, but Willis hit perhaps the biggest shot of the contest with nine seconds left.
“Willis hit a couple of big threes,” Miller said. “The one at the end of the third was huge.”
It gave the Tigers a 36-30 advantage heading into the final stanza. For Willis, it was just her second basket of the game due to picking up three fouls in the first half and she would end with seven points.
“We didn’t coast, but we played well the rest of the ball game,” Oliger said. “Kudos to all the girls. Everybody stepped in when Gabby was in foul trouble and did a great job.”
Hannah Rogers, Taylor Kelley and Brytni Dale all contributed six points. Dale pulled down seven rebounds.
Payton Moore
Moore led the Titans with 15 points and six rebounds.
“She’s struggled the last couple of games, so we’re glad to have her back,” Miller said.
Mackenzie Peggs added seven points for the Titans.
Tri won the JV contest 40-28 with Breanna Reece leading the way with 11 points. Auburn Harvey added 10 for the Titans.
Lexi Eblen led the Tigers with nine points with Lacee Dale tossing in seven.
Tri (10-4, 2-2) travels to Union City for another TEC affair on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Hagerstown returns to action at the Twin Lakes Tournament on Dec. 28-29. The Tigers face the host school in the first round on the opening day of the eight-team event.
Box Score
TRI (10-4 2-2) – Kylie Dishman 2 1-2 5, Mackenzie Peggs 2 2-2 7, Cayla Johnson 1 0-0 2, Payton Moore 5 5-7 15, Addy Edwards 2 0-0 5, Karlee Winkhart 1 0-0 2, Kensington Appleby 1 0-0 2, Mara Biehl 0 0-0 0. Team – 14 8-11 38.
HAGERSTOWN (8-4, 3-1) – Gabby Willis 2 1-3 7, Hannah Rogers 2 1-3 6, Taylor Kelley 2 2-2 6, Brytni Dale 2 2-2 6, Savannah Houck 6 6-6 18, Victoria Pierson 0 0-1 0, Hailee Garrison 0 0-0 0, Beth Jenkins 0 0-0 0. Team – 11 16-21 39.
Tri 11 21 30 38
Hagerstown 9 18 36 43
3-pointers – Tri 2 (Peggs 1, Edwards 1), Hagerstown 3 (Willis 2, Rogers 1). Rebounds – Tri 25 (Moore 6), Hagerstown 20 (Dale 7). Turnovers – Tri 13, Hagerstown 18. Fouls – Tri 19, Hagerstown 14.