Lady Trojans roll at Pulaski County 75-59, improve to 2-2

Shannon Hutchinson, Sports Writer

Monticello — The Monticello Lady Trojans traveled to 12th Region rival Pulaski County last Monday night, to face the homestanding Lady Maroons at PC Gym. Both teams were coming off big wins as Monticello was coming off an emotional

58-54 home district win over Wayne County, while Pulaski County thrashed Campbellsville 83-25, in the Bankers Hardwood Classic at Russell County. The Lady Trojans owned a 1-2 record, while the Lady Maroons entered with a 3-2 mark. The teams met last season with Monticello claiming a 69-42 decision at MHS Gym.

Monticello nailed three 3-pointers in the opening minutes, while racing to an 11-0 lead and never trailed, en route to an impressive 75-59 road win.

Freshman guard Autumn Bell paced four winners in double figures with a game high 23 points, plus grabbed a team best 8 rebounds, as the Lady Trojans improved to 2-2 on the season.

Bell shot 7 of 9 from the field, with an eye-popping 5 of 6 effort from 3-point range, plus made 2 of 3 free throws, in 26 minutes of action.

"We came out and played with some confidence, had a really good intensity level, plus started to show some signs of being a really good basketball team. We shot the ball pretty well and that started early on when Autumn Bell hit a couple of 3-pointers, which just sparked the whole team.

She started the fire and it was one of those nights that everybody kind of fueled the fire, after that. Another big key was we took good care of the basketball," said Lady Trojans head coach Marla Kelsch.

Senior forward Lacey Alley added 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 steals. The stalwart shot 3 of 7 from behind the arc and 5 of 5 from the free throw line, to offset a 4 of 16 effort overall from the field.

"We shot the ball extremely well from 3-point range, but had a tough night in the paint. Lacey had a very good all-around game and as a team I thought we played very unselfish. We did a nice job of passing the ball and getting a lot of people involved on the offensive end," said Kelsch.

Malesha Hughes posted 10 points with 5 rebounds, while Cortney Morrow netted a near triple-double with 10 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds.

Hughes shot 6 of 10 from the free throw line and 2 of 10 from the field, while Morrow connected on 7 of 12 from the charity-stripe and 1 of 5 from the floor.

Senior forward Maggie Hopper paced the reserves with a career best 8 points and 3 boards, in 13 minutes off the bench. Jackie Anderson totaled 5 points with 5 assists and Tiara Duncan chipped-in with 3 points, as seven different Lady Trojans scored in the win.

"Maggie had a nice scoring night and gave us a big lift with 6 points in the first quarter, which helped our fast start. Overall this was a good team effort that we can build on," said Kelsch.

Pulaski County, which dropped to 3-3, placed three scorers in double digits led by the 16 points of senior guard Brooke Cable. Cable netted 11 points in the final quarter, after the outcome was no longer in doubt.

"Pulaski County is a much improved basketball team and for the most part they have a very young team. We mixed up our defenses some and I thought we made Cable work hard for her points with most of them coming late. I think they have all the tools to be a dangerous team," said Kelsch.

Sophomore center Mariah Meeks totaled 15 points and freshman Brittany Warren contributed 10 points, as nine different Lady Maroons scored in the game.

Autumn Bell exploded for 14 points in the opening quarter, aided by 3 3-pointers, as Monticello opened with the hot-hand to race to a 28-17 advantage.

Bell added two more treys in the second stanza and the Lady Trojans combined for 9 in the first half, as the squad doubled-up Pulaski County 18-9, to own a 46-26 halftime lead. The Lady Maroons were led by the 8 first half points of Brittany Warren, as six different hosts scored in the opening two periods.

"Just a really good offensive half of basketball, but we didn't carry that type of focus and intensity into the third quarter. We talked a lot about not coming out laxed, but unfortunately we had a letdown," said Kelsch.

Mariah Meeks led five different Lady Maroon scorers with 7 points and Pulaski County used a 16-7 run, to close the gap to 53-42, after three frames.

Monticello responded down the stretch and converted on 13 of 17 free throws in the final quarter, led by the 7 points of Lacey Alley to claim a

75-59 win.

Pulaski County, which enjoyed a 42-36 rebound edge, totaled 25 field goals with 4 of those coming from 3-point range. The hosts made 5 of 8 free throws for 63 percent and finished with 15 turnovers.

The Lady Trojans shot 20 of 55 overall for 36 percent and that included an 11 of 25 effort from 3-point range for 44 percent. The winners connected on 24 of 37 free throws for 65 percent and totaled 20 assists with 12 steals, against 12 turnovers.

"This was a good team effort on the road, against a quality opponent,"

said Kelsch.

Up next for the squad was a Thursday night district game at McCreary Central.

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