Junior Maddie Hutchens was the only Greenville player to score multiple field goals in the game.
Photos by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
Sophomore Jayda Lyons turned in another stellar defensive performance limiting senior Alaiya Meaux to one point.
Many Greenville players, like junior Elise Fugett, made the most of this opportunity and played well.
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
GREENVILLE — With multiple players out due to injury or sickness, the Lady Wave still found a way to compete against a nine-win Xenia team. Unfortunately, a second half comeback by the Lady Buccs gave them a 37-25 win at Greenville on Jan. 24.
Head coach Rachel Kerns said the reality of the situation is they were without some of their top players and had to expand their bench, giving some players more minutes than they normally get. Without having a practice with all of the available players together, they still hung around.
“In the girls defense, we weren’t ready to play with the personnel we had. We lost somebody earlier today that we didn’t know we weren’t going to have. We didn’t have time to practice putting people in different situations. Overall, they did a really good job,” Kerns said.
Greenville led 17-12 at halftime. They scored 11 points in the first quarter and shut down the Xenia offense.
The Lady Wave didn’t allow many points in the paint. Even when the Lady Buccs could grab some offensive rebounds, almost the whole team was in the paint going after the ball.
Kerns said junior Brooke Schmidt and sophomore Jayda Lyons both played physical and made an impact in the rebounding department. Both were going after loose balls and didn’t allow many easy second chance opportunities.
Lyons also stepped up and contained senior Alaiya Meaux. The last time these two teams played on Dec. 16, Meaux led the Lady Buccs with 15 points in a 51-35 win with Lyons not playing in that game. Meaux was held to one point in this game.
As the second half went on, Greenville couldn’t string together enough possessions offensively to maintain momentum. With just over three minutes left in the third quarter, Xenia took a 21-19 lead and led 24-19 after the quarter ended.
Kerns said they need to get better at stopping their opponents runs earlier and find ways to get some offense going when they are in a scoreless stretch.
Overall, Xenia outscored Greenville 25-8 in the second half. The Lady Wave were able to get some buckets late, but couldn’t start a run earlier to get back into the game.
Kerns said their biggest problem right now is the same one boys head coach Matt Hamilton has said his team is facing after yesterday’s game against Xenia, they just can’t put the ball into the hole.
The opportunities were there for Greenville, they just couldn’t finish them.
“All of that, those silly turnovers and everything that happened. It’s a six possession, four possession game and we’re talking 12 points. We’re really not that far off, we just need someone else to be able to score a little bit,” Kerns said.
In her first career start, junior Maddie Hutchens led the team with 12 points. Kerns said Hutchens is one of the better natural scorers in the program. She will only get better once she’s able to consistently play at the varsity pace.
“When Maddie plays at the varsity pace, she’s a great varsity player. We’re not always consistent there. With the current situation we have, she’s going to get there pretty quick,” Kerns said.
Junior Elise Fugett scored three points while five other Greenville players scored two points.
The Lady Wave are now 5-12 on the season with a 2-11 MVL record. They will be at Stebbins on Jan. 27 for an 11:45 a.m. tip off and then will be at Tippecanoe on Jan. 29 for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
