By JON WEBB
HORSE CAVE — Cornelius Faulkner had the perfect game plan.
Coming into Friday’s game, he studied Glasgow’s offense. He could even recognize its players’ tendencies. For the first three quarters, his team used his knowledge to their advantage.
Caverna led the Lady Scotties by as many as eight points in the second half, but felt victim to a 27-9 Glasgow run over the final 13:30 to fall 48-38.
Faulkner said the loss was the best he’s seen his team play all season.
“I had (Glasgow) to a ‘t,’ and the girls are getting to the point where they finally understand what they need to do to win a game,” he said. “But our Achilles’ heel was second-half turnovers.”
After the Lady Colonels’ Joslin Austin sparked a quick 9-0 run at the beginning of the second half, Glasgow transformed forced turnovers and quick Caverna shots into easy baskets that helped secure the victory.
“It was a physical game, and coming in we knew it would be,” Glasgow head coach Chris Crain said. “It was an ugly win tonight, but you’re going to have those.”
The game was certainly ugly early. Both teams were held scoreless until the 4:09 mark when Glasgow’s Kelsey Greer drove through the Lady Colonels’ 2-3 zone to put the Lady Scotties on the board.
The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the period until a C.C. Waggoner buzzer-beater handed Caverna an 11-9 lead at the end of one.
Glasgow’s defense held Caverna to just two field goals in the second, but the Lady Colonels managed to subsist on free throws and grab a three-point lead with less than two minutes to play in the half. Greer and Whitney Williams responded with four consecutive Glasgow points to send the lead back to the Lady Scotties. A score by Caverna’s Reagan Kingrey snatched back the lead before a pair of Greer free throws with seven-ticks remaining provided Glasgow a one point cushion heading into the third.
That cushion deflated at the onset of the quarter.
The Lady Colonels opened the half with nine unanswered points to build a 29-21 advantage by the 5:30 mark. Joslin Austin scored six of her 11 points in the stretch, while Tess Priddy tossed in two and Madison Ballou contributed her only point of the night.
Then glasgow embarked on a run of its own. Greer compiled 10 points worth of an 11-0 run that seized the lead for the Lady Scotties and sent them into the final stanza with a slim three-point advantage.
Subsequent stretches of nine and six unanswered helped Glasgow dispel any Caverna notions of an upset and allowed the Lady Scotties to go on to a 10-point victory.
Faulkner praised his team’s defensive effort, but said its offense’s dependence on free throws helped lead to the loss.
“You can’t depend on free throws. You’ve got to score baskets,” he said.
Greer led Glasgow with 21 points. Whitney Williams contributed 11 and Shelby Ray added nine. Joslin Austin set the tone for Caverna with 11, while Kingrey added 10. Crain credited defensive pressure and impressive play from Greer for fending off Caverna.
“Guard play has been our calling card all year, and I thought Kelsey definitely stepped up and handled the pressure,” he said. “I told our players in the locker room that games like this make you tougher. And we got tougher tonight.”
Despite dropping to 4-17 on the year, Faulkner said his team’s performance was indictive of its own toughness.
“I’m proud of my girls,” he said. “For a team that’s lost as many games as we have, you would never know it by watching them play.
“They gave it their all tonight.”
Glasgow will welcome Cumberland County on Tuesday for senior night, while Caverna will host Washington County tomorrow.
