Dominant 2nd quarter leads Webb girls past Lady Warriors
Editor’s note: due to an extremely early holiday deadline necessitated by printing requirements, the opening round of the 2024 Hammer’s Hardwood Classic Thursday, Dec. 19, was our last chance to cover this tourney for this issue.
KNOXVILLE — It was two Dutchtown Road rivals separated by less than one mile — Webb School of Knoxville and Christian Academy of Knoxville — squaring off in the opening round of the Hammer’s Hardwood Classic, sponsored by 5-Star Preps, Thursday night, Sept. 19.
A dominant second quarter by the homesteading Lady Spartans built a comfortable lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The final was 67-53.
“I’m excited about what this team’s capable of,” second-year Webb head coach Greg Hernandez said. “They’ve bought in; they work hard.”
“They executed their game plan the way they needed to and we didn’t,” CAK head coach Abby Williams said, despite Lady Warrior Maddie Braden scoring a game-high 27 points. “Every time we’d go on a bit of a run, they’d stop it.”
The Lady Spartans jumped to a 7-2 lead, but six straight by the Lady Warriors gave them an 8-7 advantage with two minutes left in the first period. Webb finished the quarter on a 5-1 run to lead 12-9 after one.
The game-changing second quarter for Webb started with consecutive jumpers by Meeyah Green, the second of which made it 16-9 with 5:36 left in the half. Green led her team with 21 points.
“Meeyah got us started, and then once everybody got acclimated to the game, we started making plays,” Hernandez said.
Up 22-17 with 3:22 remaining, the Lady Spartans scored eight unanswered —- including two straight treys by eighth-grader Ivy Napier — to lead 30-17.
The score at intermission was 36-20. “We got outscored 24-11 in the second quarter and allowed them to create that gap,” Williams said.
A 10-3 run by Webb to open the third frame made the score 46-23 with 5:59 left. CAK then scored seven straight to cut the lead to 46-30. It would be the Lady Warriors’ last gasp.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the third, which ended with the Lady Spartans leading 56-40.
Webb improved to 11-0 after the victory, while the Lady Warriors fell to 6-4.
