FELICITY — The Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers took to the court without senior Julia Jenike last week in the SBAAC Tournament against the New Richmond Lady Lions.
Early on, the game looked like it would come down to the wire, but an offensive eruption in the third quarter allowed the Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers to pick up a 41-28 victory.
The Lady Tigers jumped ahead 4-2 early, but the Lions tied the game up at six with 3:49 left in the first quarter. New Richmond then took a 12-9 lead, but Bethel-Tate battled back and led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter. Allison Parks scored 12 of the Lady Tigers’ 16 points in the period.
Neither team did much on offense in the second quarter. The Lady Tigers tallied six points, two of which came on free-throws. Bethel-Tate did not hit a field goal in the second quarter until the 3:31 mark.
The Lady Lions weren’t any better. They managed just five points in the quarter and didn’t hit a field goal until there were just over four minutes left in the half. Regardless, Bethel-Tate maintained a 22-19 lead at the break.
One team’s offense picked up in a big way in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers continued their balanced scoring attack, with four different players scoring on an 11-2 run that blew the game open. The Lady Tigers took a 35-23 lead into the fourth quarter.
The offenses struggled again in the fourth, combining for just 11 points, but the game was already out of reach.
Parks led both teams with 16 points. New Richmond’s Anna Hamilton added 13 while Marin Hance scored nine for the Lady Lions. Haylee Foster chipped in nine points for the Lady Tigers, who had one more regular-season game left on their schedule.
The team travelled to CHCA for their final tune-up before sectional tournament play. Much like the team’s game against New Richmond, the first quarter wasn’t anything to write home about on offense. The Lady Tigers trailed 3-2 after the first.
In the second quarter, however, the Lady Tigers picked things up. The team scored 19 points in the quarter, taking control of what turned into a 41-29 victory.
Bethel-Tate will carry a 14-8 regular-season record into their first sectional round match against Clark Montessori on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Wilmington.
