Clarksville Withstands Run
SHORT-HANDED LADY PANTHERS HOLD OFF LADY PIRATES
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Clarksville guard Serena Clokey, center, reaches for a rebound as Greenland guard Zoe Seay, left, and junior post Andrea Scott defend during the first half of Saturday’s game in the Farmington Lady Cardinal Classic at Farmington High.
Photo by Andy Shupe
FARMINGTON — Greenland had enough players to fill its bench. Clarksville, on the other hand, had only two backups and plenty of empty seats on its sideline.
But the depth issues didn’t matter Saturday, even when Greenland girls basketball coach Alan Barton tried using his deep bench and full-court press to wear down short-handed Clarksville.
The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 16-point lead early in the second half, withstood a 15-2 run later in the third quarter and held on for a 69-62 win in the opening game of the Farmington Classic.
“Early on, I can see that (Barton) was subbing four at a time. I think he’s trying to wear us down,” Clarksville coach Randy Talley said. “We didn’t look that good against the press, but the key is once we broke it, we scored off it.”
Talley didn’t have the luxury of giving his players much of a rest. The Lady Panthers (2-1) have only nine players on their roster, and two of them missed Saturday’s game because of Thanksgiving break.
That forced Clarksville to rely on a balanced offense, which included four players scoring in double figures, led by Hannah Banning’s game-high 25 points.
With a deep bench to work with, Barton made lineup changes every few minutes and saw it pay off during a nearly 4-minute stretch in the third quarter when Greenland (1-3) went on a 15-2 run.
“We heard they (Clarksville) want to go fast, and I know our girls are in shape, so we’re going fast,” Barton said. “And I threw my 3-point shooters in, which happen to be the young (players).”
Holland Craise drained back-to-back 3-pointers for the Lady Pirates, then hit another one with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut Clarksville’s lead to 46-43.
Caitlyn Johnson scored a team-high 16 points for Greenland and Craise added 15 points.
But Clarksville, despite wearing down in the third quarter, built its lead back to 11 points in the fourth quarter and made four free throws in the final minute to preserve the win.
“They like to run and shoot the 3. We knew it,” Barton said of Clarksville. “They’re great shooters, but we’ve been trying to find our identity the last three games. I believe we found one (Saturday), so I’m proud of our effort.”
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