Ringgold girls upend Northwest in hoops debut
The Ringgold Lady Tigers had been scheduled to face Northwest Whitfield in a game last Wednesday night at the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic.
But when the Classic had to be cancelled, the two schools agreed to move the game to Ringgold and the Blue-andWhite seemed to like the alternative digs just as much.
Tied 18-18 at halftime, Ringgold held the Lady Bruins to just four points in a decisive third quarter and scored an impressive 43-32 victory in their home and season-opener.
Rachel Lopez had a huge night for the Lady Tigers (10), scoring a game-high 20 points to go with five steals, four rebounds and three assists. Caroline Hemphill added seven points and a steal, while Maggie Reed scored six points, recorded five assists and added four steals.
Baileigh Pitts, making her return to the court after a year’s absence, had five points and a pair of steals. Riley Nayadley scored three points, but grabbed five boards with two steals with a block, while Amber Gainer rounded out the scoring with two points.
Northwest boys 69, Ringgold 63
The Tigers came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard in the nightcap, despite a valiant run in the final two periods.
Northwest used a 10-0 run at the end of the first quarter to help forge a 36-22 lead at halftime. However, Ringgold would make things interesting in the second half.
They chopped the Bruins’ lead down to five, 49-44, by the end of the third quarter and trailed by six, 58-52, with 3:12 to play. They got to within six points of tying things up two more times in the fourth and a Jayden Williams drive to the hoop cut it back to five in the closing seconds.
However, Northwest would add a final free throw with 4.7 seconds left to seal the victory.
Cooper Sexton led Ringgold (0-1) with 16 points. Brevin Massengale had 13 and O’reilly Matthews added 12. Williams finished the night with nine points. Daniel Fow and Alex Otting had four each. Gage Long and Cade Dodson each scored two and Jordan Wideman chipped in with one.