Lady Bobcats overcome slow start to grind out win over Lady Musketeers

LLOYD, Ky. — Call it a holiday hangover or even just shaking off the Christmas break.

But either way, the Green Lady Bobcats shook off a slow start and rallied in the second half to earn a 53-46 win over the Greenup County Lady Musketeers at The Greenhouse on Saturday afternoon.

"First half was very rough. Halftime we addressed the defense — well, we addressed both — we were standing on offense and defense. I knew we'd come out flat because we had a bad practice yesterday. But I was prepared for that when we let them off for Christmas Eve and Day."

Abbie Knapp led all scorers with 25 points — including 13-of-13 from the foul line — 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Knapp's best work came in the second half, scoring 14 points and going 10 of 12 to help the Lady Bobcats make their comeback.

Ava Abrams also reached double figures with 10 points, 2 steals and a pair of blocked shots. The trio of Addison Blizzard, Laney Strickland, and Elizabeth McBee each netted 6 points to round out the individual scorers for Green.

The Lady Musketeers were led on the score sheet by Dharia Crum with 13 points and 4 rebounds. Tenley Melvin finshed with 12 points, 5 boards and a pair of assists. Maddy Steele came up just shy of a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

The Lady Musketeers gained the upper hand in the early going, with Steele scoring 8 points in the paint and Crum hitting 2 shots from long range to help give Greenup an 18-12 edge after one quarter of play.

Knapp helped keep pace for Green with 7 points and Abrams hit one from behind the arc in the opening frame.

Greenup got their largest lead of the game in the closing moments of the first when Heidi Felty caught a pass along the baseline and hit a bounce pass to Steele for the layup to make it 18-10.

In the second, the Lady Bobcats were able to grab their first lead of the game when McBee threw a pass to a wide open Blizzard for a 3-pointer to make the score 23-21 at the 4:05 mark.

Blizzard hit another triple just minutes later to give Green a 28-25 lead with 2 minutes left in the half.

Greenup would pull even with Branim sinking a free throw and a score underneath to close out the first half.

Coach Knapp said much of their adjustments at halftime had less to do with X's and O's, and more to do with just getting them to refocus and be more motivated on both ends.

"We talked about defensive goals at halftime and I think we held them to 18 points in the second half. So when the defense picked it up and that got us moving offensively."

Abbie Knapp also confirmed that the team was properly motivated by her coach at the break.

"Definitely," said Abbie with a grin. "I don't want to lose and (coach Knapp) don't want to lose and nobody wants to lose. So we had to pick it up on defense."

During the third, the Lady Musketeers found themselves in some foul trouble as Green began to attack the paint. The Lady Bobcats were able to capitalize on the chances from the charity stripe by sinking 5 of 6 free throws.

Abrams hit another 3-pointer and Knapp scored twice in the paint to give the Lady Bobcats the lead.

However, Crum was able to hit a mid range jumper with 15 seconds to give Greenup a 39-38 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Knapp and the Lady Bobcats continued to attack and get to the foul line in the fourth, resulting in Green making 6 trips to the line in the stanza.

The Lady Musketeers were able to pull within 46-44 following a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Melvin with 3:12 remaining on the clock.

Greenup would have trouble getting a defensive stop and be forced to foul the rest of the way.

Knapp was sent to the line twice in the final 2 minutes and went 4-for-4, McBee would convert both of her free throws and Abrams sank a free throw to close the game out.

Abbie Knapp said afterwards that's one thing in her game that she's been working to improve and the effort seems to be paying off.

"Basically, I've been working on my free throws in practice and I've been locking in. I didn't do well at the end of last season and the same in the Worthing Kilbourne game. So now I just have to make my free throws."

Prior to the game, Steele was honored in front of the home crowd for reaching 500 career rebounds in Greenup's previous game against South Point on Dec. 23.

Green now turns its attention to Monday night, where they return home for a Southern Ohio Conference divisional-crossover game with South Webster.

"Coming home with a big game against South Webster. They're a solid basketball team with athletes and a good freshman class," said coach Knapp. "So Monday morning, we'll try to put a game plan together for Monday night."

Greenup will be back in action on Tuesday at Coal Grove.

Green 12 16 10 15 = 53

Greenup Co. 18 10 11 7 = 46

GREEN 53 (7-1): Sydney Bainer 0 0 0-0 0, Addison Blizzard 0 2 0-0 6, Laney Strickland 2 0 2-4 6, Destiny Alexander 0 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth McBee 0 0 6-6 6, Ava Abrams 0 3 1-2 10, Abbie Knapp 6 0 13-17 25 ; TOTALS 8 5 22-29 53. Rebounds (O-10, D-17) 27 (Knapp 11, McBee 6, Strickland 6). Assists: 3 (Blizzard, McBee, Knapp). Steals: 9 (Strickland 2, McBee 2, Knapp 2). Blocks: 4 (Abrams 2, Knapp 2). Turnovers: 7, Fouls: 12; Fouled out: None 

GREENUP COUNTY 46 (3-6): Leah Langley 0 0 1-2 1, Dharia Crum 2 3 0-0 13, Eva Wireman 3 0 0-0 6, Addison Branim 1 0 1-4 3, Maddy Steele 5 0 1-3 11, Tenley Melvin 1 2 4-4 12, Heidi Felty 0 0 0-0 0, August Stephens 0 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 12 5 7-13 46; Rebounds: (O-7, D-27) 34 (Branim 10 Steele 9, Melvin 5). Assists: 7 (Branim 3, Melvin 2). Steals: 4 (Langley 2). Blocks: 2 (Crum, Branim). Fouls: 20; Fouled out: None.