MARYVILLE - A second-quarter run was the difference in the game on Friday night, seeing Piedmont victorious over Maryville 73-57.
The Scots and the Lions were trading blows back and forth for the first 14 minutes of the game, and the last 20 minutes of the game was equally contested, but the final six minutes of the second quarter saw Piedmont streak 17 points in a row on Maryville to take the 41-24 halftime lead.
"The second quarter did us in," Maryville head coach Darrin Travillian said. "It's hard to play come-back ball. There were a couple times we cut it down to around ten, but we couldn't continue to make plays after that. At some point, you just gotta step up and make a play"
The Scots scored a mere six points in the second quarter after scoring 18 in the first. Maryville tied Piedmont at 6:50 to go in the half on two free throws by Ella Haney, notching it up at 24 apiece. From then on, MC wouldn't score again until the third quarter.
You can chop up the 17-0 run to Piedmont's hot three-point shooting. The Lions made seven threes in the first half on 50% shooting, while also outscoring the Scots on the bench with 26 points compared to Maryville's 7.
Travillian said of the Bench play:
"When you come into the game, you don't have to make a bucket, but you can't look around and just turn the ball over. You have to know what you're doing in there. You don't have to score, but you need to find a way to contribute, and we didn't get that with our bench players tonight."
Ella Tharpe, however, put up career numbers on the night, with six points in the first half and 15 points in the second half to total her career high of 21 points on 10-12 shooting, which led all scorers in the game. Emma Huskey had a solid night shooting as well, with nine points on 50% field goal shooting, eight rebounds, two steals, blocks, and assists. Ella Haney's first half was solid, scoring 11 points (12 total in the game). She also added four rebounds and assists, and three steals.
A quick turnaround for Maryville as they face Belhaven tomorrow at 2 p.m.. The Blazers comes in on a two-game losing streak, having lost tonight at Asbury 80-69, falling to 7-8 overall and 4-3 in CCS play. Maryville and Belhaven split last season's match ups, with each team winning on their home court.
