The Western Brown Lady Broncos could not do anything on either side of the ball against the Eastern Lady Warriors in their opening game of the Brown County Holiday Classic Tuesday night.

Eastern dropped 20 points on Western Brown in the second quarter and never really looked challenged throughout the contest, dropping the Lady Broncos to the consolation game with a 44-27 victory.

Meanwhile, the Lady G-Men of Georgetown played well against the Fayetteville Rockets. They led 26-19 at halftime but Fayetteville Senior Samantha Murphy poured it on in the third, scoring 13 of the team’s 15 points in the quarter to pull her squad ahead in what would become a 47-44 victory for the Lady Rockets.

Those two losses set up a rivalry match up in the consolation game, as the Lady Broncos and Lady G-Men squared off Wednesday afternoon looking to turn the tide. Thanks to a strong second half from Mackenzie Brooks, the Lady Broncos were able to do just that, defeating the Lady G-Men 40-32

Georgetown jumped out to a 7-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. Rachel Gibbons and Kennedy Underwood each hit field goals for the Lady G-Men while Bayley Johnson and Lexie Cahall added free-throws. Brooks hit a bucket for the Lady Broncos, as did Emma Wells, who hit a three-pointer for the team.

In the second quarter, Baile Darnell led the Lady Broncos, scoring all five of her points in the frame. Nena Taylor added three for Western Brown, who would send Georgetown to the line 10 times in the quarter. The Lady G-Men converted just five of those attempts, and entered halftime trailing 17-16.

The back-and-forth action continued in the third quarter. Underwood hit a pair of three-pointers for the Lady G-Men, including a buzzer-beater just before the end of the third quarter, and they regained a 27-25 lead entering the fourth quarter.

However, Georgetown would not hit a field-goal in the frame, settling for just four foul shots. Lexi Ring scored five points in the final quarter for Western Brown and Sugaree Shaffer added four more for the Lady Broncos.

Western Brown head coach Dennis Overstake was happy with how his team played defensively, not surprising given the Broncos held Georgetown without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our defense played very well today,” Overstake said. “Normally the fourth quarter hasn’t been very kind to us this year but we were able to out-score them 13-3 in that quarter.”

Brooks scored 12 points for the Lady Broncos, 10 of which came in the second half. Underwood led Georgetown with 12.

“Brooks came to life in the second half,” Overstake said. “Wells was selected to the all-tournament team, and that was primarily due to the defense that she played over the two days.”

Both squads will now prepare for the remainder of the regular season. Georgetown is off until the team travels to Eastern on Jan. 9. Western Brown will prepare for a home contest against Glen Este on Monday, Jan. 4. That begins a bit of a difficult stretch for the Lady Broncos, who in addition to the Trojans will face Kings, Bethel and Georgetown in their next four games.

“It was very important for us,” Overstake said “It was a big win for us to get a little confidence boost.”

Western Brown’s Hannah Sininger leaps to defend Georgetown’s Kennedy Underwood in the consolation game of the Brown County Holiday Classic Wednesday afternoon.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_DSC_8889.jpgWestern Brown’s Hannah Sininger leaps to defend Georgetown’s Kennedy Underwood in the consolation game of the Brown County Holiday Classic Wednesday afternoon.

By Garth Shanklin

gshanklin@civitasmedia.com

Western Brown 40, Georgetown 32

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Total

GT

7

9

13

3

32

WB

5

12

10

13

40

GT – Underwood 4 2 12, Gibbons 1 6 9, Johnson 2 3 7, Cahall 0 2 2, McKinney 1 0 2

WB – Wells 2 0 5, Ring 1 3 5, Shaffer 2 2 6, Brooks 6 0 12, Sininger 1 0 2, Darnell 2 1 5, Barthel 1 0 2, Taylor 1 1 3

Halftime: Western Brown 17, Georgetown 16

Three-pointers: GT 3 (Underwood 2, Gibbons)

Reach Garth Shanklin at 937-378-6161 or follow him on Twitter at @GNDShanklin.