Lady Hawks put up valiant effort
Knoxville — A slow start proved problematic for the young Hardin Valley Academy girls basketball team on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 13.
But the Lady Hawks fought through their struggles and put up a valiant effort against Alcoa, one of the area’s top teams in a 62-47 loss to the Lady Tornadoes at the Turnkey Hardwood Classic at Webb School of Knoxville.
Alcoa (5-1) darted out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and never trailed after the opening frame.
But the Lady Hawks (4-6) were playing their second game away from their home court in less than 24 hours.
Despite the loss, Hardin Valley coach Jennifer Galloway was upbeat following the game, which was contested at the Haslam center.
“Alcoa is a great team and they’re very, very physical and I felt like that we responded to that” Galloway said. “We did a lot of good things.
“We’re getting better at different things. They put pressure on us and we started to attack and there were times when we did well.”
Alcoa extended its advantage to 34-18 by halftime but HVA didn’t wilt or go away.
The Lady Hawks started fast after the break as post player Audree Rhein scored the first five points of the third stanza and pulled HVA to within 34-23, and the Lady Hawks continued to chip away at the deficit and they trimmed it to 45-35 when Emma Rhoden knocked down a long-range 3-point jumper with 23 seconds remaining in the third stanza.
But Alcoa would answer when Harper Stinnett made a 3-pointer of her own as time expired in the quarter, making it 48-35.
Hardin Valley surrendered the first four points of the final frame and the Lady Tornadoes never really relinquished control of the contest.
Lindsey scored 19 points to lead all scorers. Rhein added 10 points and Alaina Lineberry finished with nine.
Stinnett led the Lady Tornadoes with 16 points. Gwen Carroll and Maddy Stewart had 12 points each.
On Friday, Dec. 12, the Lady Hawks picked up their first District 4-4A win on the road Friday night as they outlasted McMinn County, 69-64.
HVA opened the week at home with a 60-36 loss to district rival Bearden on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
