By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Skyline Lady Tigers jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead over the Logan-Rogersville Lady Wildcats and cruised to a 57-34 victory in the opening round of the White Division of the Pink & White Lady Classic on Thursday morning at the O’Reilly Family Event Center on the Drury University campus.
Sophomore forward Justine Barb got things going for the seventh-seeded Lady Tigers with a baseline spin move. Emma Crawford added a conventional three-point play, and Miranda Quennoz converted on a left-handed drive to the basket before hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 10-2 Skyline advantage.
In addition, Skyline’s full-court pressure caused problems for the Lady Wildcats, allowing Logan-Rogersville’s first three points to come from the free-throw line. Even with the graduation of three key players last year, the Lady Tigers continue to have players step up.
“I was worried about this group, first getting the nerves out of the way, especially with freshmen and sophomores out there,” Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said. “I felt good because we had lots of energy early. With this group of kids, it’s important for us to get off to an early start.
“The neat thing we have is we have five kids who, when they play well, are pretty hard to guard. And, so we can usually find somebody who is having a pretty good day.”
And, the Lady Tigers, who improved to 4-2, had three players have “pretty good” days. Sophomore guard Miranda Quennoz led the way with 17 points, including five three-pointers, followed by junior forward Emma Crawford with 15 and Barb with 10.
After opening with a 17-9 first-quarter lead, Skyline came out in the second and used an 11-0 run to extend its lead to 28-9 midway through the quarter and a 33-17 lead at halftime behind the combined 10 points of Quennoz and Barb.
Logan-Rogersville coach Matt Bolger did see some positive things from his team, as the Lady Wildcats ended the first half on a 6-0 run, but the Skyline pressure disrupted much of what his team wanted to do.
“We struggled with the press our last game before Christmas, so I knew that’s what we were going to face, and we worked on it,” Bolger said. “To be honest, I thought we took some steps forward, it’s just the consistency of doing it all the time.”
Sophomore forward Gracie Kirby, who sparked the Lady Wildcats with seven first-quarter points, led the team with 11.
But, the key in a four-game in five-day tournament is to keep “moving to the right,” Cheek said.
“We did a nice sharing the basketball, and Emma Crawford made some good cuts and finished,” Cheek said. “The most important thing for us is, 1. Did you get better, and 2. Are you winning. We did a lot of things today that were an improvement from early in the year.
“We have a lot of kids back, but a lot of kids with different roles. We’re eight games into it and still trying to figure out exactly who’s going to go where. Ultimately, if we get to February and have some things together, we’ll be excited.”
No. 7 Skyline 57, Rogersville 34
Pink & White Lady Classic
White Division – First-round game
SKYLINE 57, ROGERSVILLE 34
ROGERSVILLE 9-8-8-9—34
SKYLINE 17-16-11-13—57
ROGERSVILLE (2-6) – Sophia Nixon 6, Shayley Dunavant 2, Gracie Kibby 11, Shelby Ince 5, Lauren Williams 1, Kierra Clark 2, Lilli Caldwell 4, Jessi Jenkins 3.
SKYLINE (6-2) – Miranda Quennoz 17, Alyee Gunter 4, Grace Edge 5, Justine Barb 10, Emma Crawford 15, Allison Nothnagel 4, Emily Edwards 2.
Up next: Rogersville vs. Marshfield, 4:30 p.m., Friday, Weiser Gym; Skyline vs. Ozark, 4:30 p.m., Friday, O’Reilly Family Event Center.
