Nov. 15—After trailing host South Decatur at the end of the first quarter, Morristown rallied to lead by eight points with just 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. The Lady Cougars scored the next seven points but late free throws by the Lady Yellow Jackets enabled Morristown to hold off South 51-47.
South drops to 1-1 on the young season. Morristown improves to 1-2.
A 3-pointer by Morristown’s Emma Nelson opened the scoring in the game. South answered with the next seven points. Taylor Somers drained a pair of free throws and Raegan Benge’s bucket gave South its first lead. Makayla Somers scored in the paint and Taylor Somers hit another free throw to put the Lady Cougars up 7-3.
Morristown battled back to tie the game at 7-7 on a rebound bucket by Olivia Rude. Dalilah Martin’s two free throws followed by a reverse layup by Paige McQueen put South in front 11-7. Rude’s two free throws capped the quarter with South holding a 2-point lead, 11-9.
The second quarter turned out to be a huge difference in the ball game. Morristown outscored South 17-9 in the quarter, the largest margin of any quarter.
Early in the quarter, a drive by Danika Rutledge cut the South lead to one point. South scored the next five points, capped by a bucket on the break by Raegan Benge off the Makayla Puckett assist. South led 18-12. Morristown took a timeout, and the Jackets turned things around.
Morristown’s Nevaeh Cox scored on a fast break, followed by another Nelson 3-pointer. Cox scored again on the break to give Morristown the lead. South’s Makayla Somers scored in the paint to slow Morristown for the moment, but the Jackets went back to the Cox, Nelson, Cox combination for seven straight points to end the half with the Jackets leading 26-20.
The third quarter started with a Cox free throw and rebound bucket by Rude. McQueen got the Lady Cougars on the board in the third quarter. Trailing 31-22, McQueen scored for South off the Makayla Somers’ assist. Makayla Somers hit three free throws to cut the deficit to four, but the Jackets responded with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by Brooke Kuhn to make it 38-27.
South scored the final three points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 38-30 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Lady Cougars continued the scoring streak with rebound buckets by Makayla Benge and Riley Benge. A Nelson 3-pointer extended the Morristown lead back to seven points.
South cut the deficit to 43-40 on a layup by Taylor Somers. Morristown’s Cox scored the next five points. Makayla Somers’ bucket started the Lady Cougars’ rally of seven straight points. She had five of the seven points. McQueen’s free throw with :26.5 left in the game cut the Morristown lead to 48-47.
After Morristown went 0-of-2 from the charity stripe, South was unable to take the lead. Cox was fouled and sent to the foul line. On her second free throw, a lane violation was called giving Cox a third free throw, which she hit to five the Jackets a 49-47 lead.
After a South turnover, Morristown’s Jayla Keithley drained a pair from the charity stripe to seal the 51-47 victory.
For the Lady Cougars, Makayla Somers scored 20 points. Taylor Somers and McQueen both finished with nine points. Raegan Benge scored four points. Dalilah Martin scored three points and Riley Benge had two points.
Makayla Somers completed a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds and four assists. Taylor Somers pulled down six rebounds. Makayla Puckett and McQueen both had four steals to lead South.
Nevaeh Cox led Morristown with 17 points. Emma Nelson was also in double figures with 14 points.
Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com
