Lionettes Roll Over St. Cecilia, 67-17

TONY STINNETT, Courier Co-Editor


HARTSVILLE - Lindsey Reed was hoping to get back on track when Cannon County faced St. Cecilia in the quarterfinals of the Trousdale County Holiday Tournament Wednesday (Dec. 28).

The Lionettes' senior accomplished her goal.

Reed scored a game-high 17 points, collected seven steals and five rebounds as Cannon County (13-3) crushed St. Cecilia, 67-17, in its tournament opener. Sophomore Abbey Sissom continued her torrid season with 14 points, seven steals, four rebounds and three assists. Ten Lionettes scored in all.

Cannon County will face host Trousdale County in semifinal action tonight (Jan. 29) at Trousdale County High School, 7 p.m.

"I was kind of feeling it tonight," Reed said. "I had been in a bit of a (scoring) slump so I was hoping this could be a game to get me back going."

Reed connected for more field goals (six) than St. Cecilia's team (five) and scored as many points as the opponent (17). She was 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.

Reed and Sissom combined to distance the Lionettes early. The duo combined for 25 first-half points as the Lionettes roared to a 44-9 halftime lead. They did their damage in less than three quarters before exiting the game.

In addition to strong showings from Reed and Sissom, Cannon County also enjoyed strong performances from Tawara Paulani (nine points, five rebounds), Madison Walkup (eight points, four rebounds), Joanna Young (six points, three steals) and Ashley Basham (four points, game-high eight rebounds).

"We had a little layoff for the Christmas break and we were rusty at the start, but we still played hard," Cannon County Head Coach Michael Dodgen said. "Once we got going we did pretty well. Our defensive effort was good. Anytime you hold a team to 17 points you are doing something right defensively. To get on the floor you have to play defense. I don't care how many points you score. If you don't play defense you can't play basketball. We are really taking pride in our defense."

Although Cannon County had little to worry about after establishing itself with an 18-3 lead after the first quarter, the Lionettes continued to misfire on numerous high-percentage shots.

"We missed some easy shots and we can't do that," Dodgen said. "If we are going to be good we have to make easy shots and it seems we are saying that after every ball game. At some point we are going to have to make some shots."

Cannon County allowed just one field goal in each of the first three quarters and two in the fourth. It led 59-11 by the end of the third quarter.

"Sometimes when you get up a certain point you tend to relax," Reed said. "We didn't do that. Sometimes in these games you have to work on getting better instead of worrying about the score. Everyone played well and kept up the defensive effort throughout."

Macy Clements (4), Jordan Hollis (2), Erin McReynolds (2), Emily Pemberton (1) also got into the scoring column for Cannon County.