Lady Mountaineers tally win No. 1
Dec. 11—The Tuscola girls' basketball team scored win No. 1 on the 2023 season with a 45-36 victory over Madison on Dec. 7.
The victory, albeit against a non-conference opponent, is the Lady Mountaineers first win since Jan. 27, when the girls bested East Henderson 45-37.
"Played well last night. We focused on defensive rebounding, cutting down on turnovers and having quality possessions," said Tuscola head coach Heath Sutton. "We still need to do a better job scoring, we missed several easy layups and too many free throws."
Sutton said the team's first group played well down the stretch as Madison pressed and played pressure man to man.
Junior Nora Jenkins led the scoring with 17 points, while Kendall Williamson scored 9 points and tallied 11 rebounds playing up in her first varsity start as a sophomore. Junior Anna Kate Sutton, who was 5 of 6 from the foul line, took care of the ball and played great defense, Sutton said.
Sutton praised the senior leadership in the team victory.
"I am super pleased with senior leadership from Samyrah Bryson, a point guard handling pressure, defending and distributing the ball, and Karsen Cherry with her interior defense and tough rebounding. Both these seniors are showing leadership on game night and in practice," he said.
Sutton said he and his assistant coaches are trying to find good rotations, especially considering the talent up and down the roster.
"We have 10 girls that can play on any given night," he said. "Trying to find the right rotations is a work in progress. Our bench gave us quality minutes."
Sutton identified juniors Ella Sutton, Sofia Wijewickrama, Cecilia Morgan, Abbey Earwood and senior Madi Conard as providing quality minutes in the win.
"We are a work in progress, and as coaches, we have to find the right rotations each night. I do feel like our girls showed up tonight and really played hard and got on the floor for loose balls with great effort," he said.
Tuscola (1-3) lost its next home game on Dec. 7 to Andrews (2-0) by a score of 54-47, but the girls will get a chance to rebound against the Wildcats on Monday, Dec. 11, when the Lady Mountaineers travel to Andrews. That game begins what will be the busiest week yet for Tuscola: the girls travel to play Enka (2-3) on Tuesday, Dec. 12 before hosting the Sugar Jets on Thursday, Dec. 14 to close the week.
Tuscola's first Mountain 7 Conference game is an away game against Franklin (2-3) on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
