Post Photo by Chris Siers Anna Haskins charges the goal after coming up with a loose ball against Cornersville. She led all scorers with 19 points.
By Chris Siers
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
CORNERSVILLE — A handful of plays at key moments ultimately made the difference in Tuesday night’s non-district clash between Community (3-5) and Cornersville.
After leading early on, the Lady ‘Dawgs (6-2) came up with a handful of plays in the second half to build, and then preserve a lead in the 48-39 win over Community.
“We started well and kind of got flat. We let them make a couple of plays right before the half and they took the lead after we played a pretty good half. We came back out and just could never get that five or six point lead, then they got that five to six point lead and we couldn’t come back from it,” Viqueen coach Cody Pierce said.
Anna Haskins came out red-hot and knocked down a pair of treys in the opening quarter and spurred the Viqueens to a 12-10 lead.
With Haskins finding open shots from the floor, the Lady ‘Dawgs played through Ady Gentry in the low post, who banked all 10 Cornersville points in the period.
Fouls eventually became an issue for Cornersville and Community worked its way to the line in the second quarter.
The Viqueens made good on 7-of-10 attempts in the period, with Alyssa White knocking down the only field goal of the quarter for the Purple and Gold.
Cornersville, on the other hand, spread 13 points among four players, with Annabelle Mulliniks chipping in five.
Just before the half, Camille Franklin drew a foul and followed through the contact to put Cornersville up two at the intermission.
After building a two-point lead at the half, Cornersville continued to rely on timely shooting, with Anna Wood drilling a key trey in the third period to help the home crowd up.
That back and forth play continued through much of the second half until the Viqueens’ possession out of a timeout with 2:34 left in regulation.
Following the time out, Cornersville switched from a man defense to a zone, not wanting to give Community any looks in the paint.
With that change in defense, Community struggled to find an open look and Cornersville was able to close out the nine-point win.
Haskins continued her stellar start to the season with 19 points to lead all scorers, with Alyssa White adding 14 points.
Gentry led Cornersville with 17 points.
For Pierce and Community, the challenge is finding more point production from the youthful lineup after graduating the bulk of the offensive production from last year’s state semifinal run.
“I’ve got a lot of new players. We are young, but they know we don’t want to be known as being young. The kids are working hard every day and it does take awhile to find that team chemistry on both sides of the ball. It’s just going to take a little bit,” Pierce said.
Community 12 9 8 10 — 39
Cornersville 10 13 13 12 — 48
Community: Anna Haskins 19, Alyssa White 14, Brooklyn Yoes 4, Taylar Wessner, Kathryn Sego.
Cornersville: Ady Gentry 17, Annabelle Mulliniks 11, Anna Wood 10, Camille Franklin 6, Jayli Childress 4.
3-Point goals: Cornersville (5): Wood 2, Mulliniks 2, Gentry; Community (3): Haskins 3.
Halftime score: Cornersville 23, Community 21.
