LADY DEVILS WIN FIRST GAME

Elkmont High School is hosting the annual Limestone County Basketball Tournament this year with games ranging from middle school to varsity.  The first game of the tourney pitted the 4th seeded Lady Devils against the 5th seeded Lady Indians to determine who would meet the top ranked Ardmore Lady Tigers next Monday, Jan. 20.  The Hill Spirit was out and about and was able to drop by and provide some game coverage.

Elkmont Starters:                             East Limestone Starters:
04  Autumn Davis                            03  Jordan Embry
12  Anna Grace Wales                     04  Allison Haataja
14  Emma McNatt                           14  Lily Moore
20  Raileigh Wallace                       24  Savannah Tyler
24  Bailey Vining                            32  Ameleigh Bippen

East Limestone won the tip and took first possession of the ball.  They came out of the gate fast and scored the first four points as Elkmont struggled to find their stride. The Lady Indians put another basket in and topped it off with two freethrows before the ice cold Lady Devils were able to find the basket on a Bailey Vining shot.  Elkmont went to a full court 1-2-1-1 press late in the first quarter.  It put pressure on East and even though it didn't achieve a lot of steals for easy baskets, it did wear the Indians down through the quarters, frustrating them with each trip down the court. (probably a run on sentence) By the second half, East Limestone was making turnovers as they became more disorganized.

The Lady Devils could have folded at the end of the first quarter.  They threw up lots of good shots but couldn't score.
However, they "stayed frosty" - (I watched Battleship yesterday) and stayed with the game plan.  Hope Hill came into the game and provided a much needed boost with 2 three pointers, capped of with a layup and a free throw.  She had nine out of the sixteen Elkmont second quarter points for a halftime score of eighteen points. The Lady Devils played solid defense and controlled the defensive boards to hold East Limestone to one point in the second quarter for a halftime score of nine. 

The second half was more of the same as Elkmont more than doubled the Lady Indian efforts for the next two quarters for a final score of 42 to 19.  Emma McNatt had seven of those ten 4th quarter points.

Game Scoring:   
                    1st           2nd          3rd         4th        Final
Elkmont       2              16            14          10           42
East              8              01            06          04           19

Elkmont
Player Scoring:      Points       Freethrows      3's       2's   Fouls
Emma McNatt         12                8/12             0         2        3
Hope Hill                 12                1/2               3         1        0
Raileigh Wallace       7                2/5               1         1        2
Bailey Vining            4                 2/6               0         1       2
Natalie Butler            4                2/2               0          1       3
Malena Butler           2                 0/1              0          1       2
Anna Grace Wales    1                1/4              0          0        3
Autumn Davis           0                 0/0              0          0       4     
                                  42              16/32            4         7       19

East Limestone 
Player Scoring:       Points      Freethrows       3's      2's    Fouls
Jordan Embry           5                1/6                0         2         2
Allison Haataja        2                 2/2                 0        0          4
Catalina Lopez         0                 0/0                0        0          1
Jenny Renfroe          1                 1/2                0        0          1
Taylor Jones             0                 0/0                0        0          1
Savannah Tyler        5                 3/11               0        1         3 
Tessa Crawford        2                 2/2                0         0         1
Ameleigh Bippen     4                 0/1                 0         2         4 
                                19                9/23              0        5         17