Nashville cruises past FL
FOUNTAIN LAKE — Delivering an aggressive defense paired with a smooth offense, Nashville picked up a 27-13 halftime lead en route to a 60-29 win over Fountain Lake on Sammy Lambert Court at Irvin J. Bass Gymnasium Friday.
“We turned the ball over a little much, missed some shot opportunities early,” said Fountain Lake head coach Chris Mungle. “(Nashville’s) very good, they’re very athletic. I was proud of the girls. They competed the whole game. They competed all the way to the end, so I’m pleased. We were just a little bit outmatched. Their athleticism and their defense creates a lot of easy offense for them.”
The Lady Scrappers took the lead from the beginning before Bailey Helton secured the Lady Cobras presence on the scoreboard with a shot from the free throw line. After a 3-pointer from Nashville’s Kyleigh Scroggins, Fountain Lake’s Karlie Craver also added another from the free throw line, sinking a trey minutes later to pull the hosts within 12-5.
Nashville continued to showcase their dominance on the court with a 7-0 run at the top of the second period as Helton found Kara Martin on an inbounds pass for a 3-pointer with Martin being sent to the free throw line twice, going 2 for 4, for a 19-10 deficit. Sydney Townsend turned on the heat for the Lady Scrappers with three steals in a row, allowing teammate Sidney Townsend to lift a layup.
“They’re one of the best teams in our conferences,” said Mungle of Nashville. “We knew they were gonna be really good, but we did a good job on offense. We moved the basketball. We’ve just got to finish shots. For us to have a chance against a team that athletic, we’re gonna have to shoot the ball really well, and we didn’t have our best shooting there.”
Olivia Dean nailed a pair of treys for 27-10 before Karli Bryant closed out the first half with one of her own for a 14-point deficit.
The start of the second half hit a dry spell that ended when Townsend grabbed a steal and went for the layup. Fountain Lake created a short rhythm, keeping pace with the visitors, but the Lady Scrappers continued to extend their lead heading into the final stanza with a quartet of buckets within a minute for the 49-26 edge.
Presley Hamric finally answered for the Lady Cobras with a steal, hitting it off the glass as
Lauren Carver took advantage of Fountain Lake’s ball control with a pair of steals. Hamric rounded out the scoring for Fountain Lake with a shot from the charity stripe as Nashville finished on a 5-0 stretch.
“I was really proud of the effort the girls put forth,” Mungle said. “We’ve just got to do away with a few turnovers and make the easy shots that we get.”
Hamric led Fountain Lake with 9 points and Martin finished with 8 points.