B

It certainly wasn‘t your typical high school girls’ game as cross-town rivals Morristown East and West battled for the second time this season Friday night at Isenberg-Siler Gym, in fact, it was the lowest scoring game between the two in many years as the Lady Hurricanes rallied in the fourth quarter for a hard-earned 28-27 victory.

With the victory, the Lady ‘Canes earned a share of the Big East Conference (District 1-4A) championship and will be the top seed in the upcoming District Tournament. Coach Justin Combs’ team finished at 6-2 in the league and notched their 20th victory against seven losses in the process. East shared the title with West Ridge.

It is the third straight season with 20 wins and is the first time that has happened in the five-on-five era that began in 1980, when East was in the midst of four-straight 20-win campaigns.

There were a lot of strange numbers in the contest. It is the lowest-scoring game in the series since East won 29-27 in 2008.

Only seven players scored in the defense-dominated contest…four from East and three Lady Trojans.

Hannah Hall led East with nine points while freshmen Kennady Phillips and Molli Stuffle had seven each. Jaelyn Valentine added five, with four of them coming in the fourth quarter.

For the Lady Trojans, now 11-14 for the season and 2-6 in the conference, Haven Simpson tossed in a dozen points to lead all scorers. Jhaniya Mitchell had nine and Maddie Simpson six as the only other scorers.

It was the fewest points by East all season, with 39 the previous low. However, it wasn’t the least number the Lady Hurricanes have given up as they allowed Cosby only 10 in a November rout. West had scored fewer points just once all season, with that coming at 33 on Thursday night against Sevier County.

West will have to play a play-in game to make the tournament field. They will travel to either Dobyns-Bennett or Science Hill who finished tied for third. West Ridge will play whichever of those teams wins the tiebreaker in the opening round.

It could be argued that great defense by both teams led to poor shooting or the other way around. Regardless, East made only 9 of 41 field goal attempts for 21.9 percent and finished 5 of 21 on three-point tries. West was 13 of 37 for 35.1 percent but hit only 1 of 9 from behind the arc.

There were not a lot of fouls called in the game, with East making 5 of 10 free throws while the Lady Trojans missed their only two attempts. West won the rebound battle, 34-31, as Haven Simpson grabbed eight and Maddie Simpson seven. Hall had nine and Phillips seven for the Lady ‘Canes.

Combs was excited after the battle. “Man, what a game. It really could have gone either way. Hats off to West. Coach (Johnny) Galyon does a great job with his game plan and those kids at West just played a fantastic game. You really can’t say enough about the effort they gave tonight.

“I was really proud of our girls for finding a way to win that game at the end,” he added. “We were out of sync offensively all night and it definitely wasn’t a pretty win. But, again, credit Mo West with having a lot to do with that. Their defense was fantastic.”

The coach went on to say, “I was really proud of the way our kids defended. I think they realized we were going to have to rely on our defense to win the game and thank goodness it was on point for the majority of the game.

“Credit to our kids for making some big shots when we needed them and for being able to hang on to the lead once we were finally able to get it.

“It was an all-around gritty effort, and I’m proud of the girls for finding a way,” he said. “We need to be a little cleaner with our execution, and we need to make free throws better than we did. In games like this, every single point is a big on,e and we left some big ones at the free throw line tonight.”

Combs also said, “Hitting the 20-win mark is always special any time you can get there, and I’m glad to see this team do it. We’ve got some things to iron out and get better at, but I really feel our best basketball is in front of us.”

Coach Galyon likened the atmosphere to a tournament game. “I thought it was two good teams with both playing very hard and both playing great defense. I thought it felt like a region or even a sub-state game.

“I was proud of our kids tonight,” he added. “East has a great team, and Coach Combs does a great job, so we knew it was going to be a really tough battle, and it was.

“I thought we played the way we needed to play to win the game for about 30 minutes,” Galyon said. “We had the pace where we wanted it. We missed some easy shots and had some situations that didn’t go our way, but I was happy with the way we played. I think we’re the lowest-seeded team in the tournament, but also one that the top teams don’t really want to have to face.”

Points were at a premium all night. West led 6-5 after the first quarter and took a 14-12 lead at halftime. East had only four baskets in the first two periods but stayed close by making two threes and a couple of free throws.

West took the lead on a basket by Mitchell right at the end of the half.

The Simpson twins combined for all eight points by the Lady Trojans in the third frame, with Haven getting six of those. Phillips and Stuffle hit treys for the Lady ‘Canes, and Hall had a basket with seven ticks left in the period to get her team within 22-21 at the final break.

West had a chance to extend its lead but missed both ends of a two-shot foul early in the fourth before Maddie Simpson knocked down the only three-pointer of the night for the Lady Trojans for a 25-21 lead with 6:40 left in the game.

Valentine cashed in two free throws for the Lady ‘Canes with 6:26 on the clock, and Hall gunned in a three from out front to put East up 26-25 at the 5:35 mark.

The teams exchanged turnovers and missed shots. Hall then came up with a loose ball and threw a long pass to Valentine, who hit a layup after getting behind the defenders. That put the Lady Hurricanes ahead 28-25 with 4:44 left in the game.

Maddie Simpson hit a basket with 2:54 left on the clock for the final points of the game.

East ran the clock while the Lady Trojans had to foul three times to put them in the bonus. The Lady ‘Canes turned the ball over with 28.8 on the clock, and West turned it back over with eight seconds to play.

The Lady ‘Canes got the ball to the front court before being fouled and missed both free throws with 4.6 remaining. West got the rebound on the missed second shot, and East fouled, giving the Lady Trojans possession out of bounds with 1.2 seconds and no time outs to setup a play.

An inbounds pass was just inside the front court, and the long desperation shot was off the mark, leaving the Lady Hurricanes with their eighth straight win over their biggest rival.