Lady Trojans close regular season with win over Unicoi County

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Morristown West tuned up for the district tournament by closing its regular season with a 78-42 rout of Unicoi County on Senior Night at Michael R. Reed Gymnasium on Thursday.

Delaney Weddington and Kaylee Dyke scored 20 points apiece for the Lady Trojans and freshman Jhaniya Mitchell added a dozen as Coach Johnny Galyon’s club racked up its 15th win against 10 losses.

Dyke poured through six three-pointers in the victory as the Lady Trojans made nine in the game.

Haley Rush led the Lady Blue Devils with 18 points.

West’s next action will be against cross-town rival Morristown East in the District Two 4-A Tournament next week.

Unicoi County, now 14-15 for the season, scored the first basket but West poured in the next 10 points and coasted to the victory by using its defense to set up a bunch of easy baskets.

West shot 50.8 percent by making 31 of 61 from the floor. The Lady Trojans were 9 of 22 on three-point attempts. The Lady Devils were 1 of 39 for 41 percent and hit 5 of 15 behind the arc.

Weddington and Aubrie Messer had five rebounds each to lead the home team to a 34-31 backboard advantage. Olivia Bailey pulled down 11 stray shots for the visitors.

“It was a good outing for us against what I think is a good team,” said Galyon after the game. “I thought everybody on the roster contributed to the win and we shot the ball pretty well. Kaylee Dyke had a really great shooting night.

“We did a good job on defense and got some easy baskets off turnovers, tonight,” added the coach. “We’re probably not as quick as we’ve been in the past but played well tonight.”

Galyon went on to say. “I was happy we got to send our seniors out on a high note. They’re a great group of girls and they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them in the last four years. Those kids have learned a lot and I’ve really enjoyed watching them grow as basketball players.

“Now that the regular season is over, it’s time to start the tournament,” he said. “We know we’ve got a tough one against East coming up and we’ll have to be ready to play.”

The Trojans were ready on Thursday night. After Bailey scored the first basket for the Lady Blue Devils, Mia Dinkins tied it for West.

Dyke then nailed a pair of three-pointers and Weddington had a steal and layup for a 10-2 lead with 4:19 left in the opening stanza.

Rush gunned in a three for Unicoi but Weddington scored again and Mitchell grabbed a rebound and put it back in before Lingerfelt hit two free throws to get the visitors within 14-10 at the first rest stop.

After Rush knocked in another triple to open the second quarter, the Lady Trojans reeled off an 11-2 run to take control. Dyke had another three in the spurt with Weddington, Mitchell, Dinkins and Dyke all getting fast break layups.

Mitchell scored again before the half and Weddington hit a three and the Lady Trojans led 34-19 at halftime.

A 14-4 run to open the third frame more than doubled the score as West led 47-23. Weddington had four baskets and Dyke hit another three to spark the run.

It was 53-33 at the end of the third period and the Lady Trojans just kept pulling away in the fourth stanza even though Galyon substituted freely. Seven Lady Trojans scored in the final quarter led by two more three’s from Dyke and another by Kalyssa Dinkins.

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