FRANKLIN FURNACE — Green girls basketball head coach Melissa Knapp turns 51 on Tuesday, so one would think that as much time as Knapp spends on a basketball court between coaching her youngest daughter and watching her son play as part of the Green family, one of the best presents for Knapp would be a win on the court.
While the opening six minutes of play weren’t ideal for the Lady ‘Cats, the remaining 26 ultimately proved to be an early gift-wrapped present for Green’s longtime leader to start the week as Green, trailing by a 14-3 margin to begin the game, outscored the Clay Panthers’ girls basketball program 70-27 to end it in a 73-41 win Monday evening at Green High School in Franklin Furnace.
Advertisement
Monday’s win gives Green, who now sits at 10-1 and 5-0 in the SOC I ranks, firm control of first place as the Lady ‘Cats now hold a two-game lead in the conference race over Clay and are two-and-a-half games up on Notre Dame with three games left to play in SOC I action.
A win over New Boston Glenwood at New Boston on Thursday evening clinches a share of the SOC I conference title, while wins at New Boston Thursday and at home against Notre Dame on Jan. 22 seal the conference title outright for the second season in a row.
“That was a good win for our ballclub,” Knapp said. “Clay’s actually sitting second in our district right now, so that was a huge win for us and helps us. Now, we’ve got to stop and turn around for New Boston. We can’t come out slow like that against New Boston or they will beat us. Kayla Wiley coaches hard, the players practice hard, and they play hard. They feed off her. We can’t come in slow on Thursday.”
Early on, Clay proved to be more than up to the challenge.
Advertisement
Winners of four consecutive contests last week en route to its 11-2 overall record coming in, the Lady Panthers executed about as well as one could ask over the opening quarter.
Drew Emnett’s club proceeded to jump out to a 14-3 lead over the game’s first 6:15 as Ava Demorest, the SOC I girls basketball version of Vinnie Johnson in terms of her ability to score buckets in bunches, scored seven of Clay’s 14 points in the opening quarter while Sophia Craft added in four tallies and Emma Emnett three.
Demorest, who finished with 18 points for the Lady Panthers, helped Clay take a double-digit lead to begin matters as the Lady Panthers took a 16-10 first-quarter lead and ran her point tally up to 11 on the first offensive possession of the second quarter, giving Clay a 19-10 edge at that juncture.
“We got out to a very slow start,” Knapp said. “Part of me believes that we were overconfident. Clay’s playing well right now. They got shooters, and this is the third year that we’ve played them with both teams having essentially the same kids. They were 11-2 coming in and are a good ballclub that is right behind us in the lead. We made simple mistakes. We know how to defend their pick and roll, and we had kids laying back and not covering. We had a big coverage problem defensively, and looked very, very sluggish.”
Advertisement
However, Abbie Knapp seemed determined to make sure her mother wasn’t disappointed around her birthday.
Scoring all 10 of Green’s first quarter points, Knapp also led a swarming second quarter effort that saw the Lady ‘Cats answer Clay’s early barrage with a 22-2 run.
In the second eight-minute period, five different Green players scored with Knapp ultimately heading the charge with a 16-point opening half.
Elizabeth McBee, who scored five of her 10 points in the second quarter, drained a wing three to give Green its first lead at 23-21, while Ava Abrams hit a corner three earlier in the period. Destiny Alexander closed the quarter with four points of her own, closing the half out with a breakaway bucket off of a steal.
Advertisement
By the time the run was finished, Green went from trailing by 11 to leading by 11, as the Lady ‘Cats led at the half, 32-21.
In the second half, Green continued building its lead as Knapp and Laney Strickland took control with their size. The pair not only combined for 14 of the Lady ‘Cats 21 points in the quarter but created issues with their length inside, leading to a third quarter where Green outscored Clay by a 21-8 margin.
The duo finished the contest with 53 points, 23 rebounds and four steals between them with Knapp collecting three blocks. Knapp finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds while Strickland collected 20 points and 13 boards.
“Abbie and Laney did a great job defensively the last three quarters of the game,” Knapp said. “Our high-low with her and Laney — we haven’t had to use that a whole lot. We had to (on Monday) to win the game. That was obviously the difference-maker. Laney and Abbie are getting comfortable looking for each other. It’s like they’ve played all their life together. They’re really getting comfortable with seeing the backside cutter or seeing the shooter on the opposite side and rebounding. They’re starting to really gel together. That was a huge part of our success tonight.”
Along with Green traveling to New Boston, Clay continues SOC I action on Thursday as the Lady Panthers host East. Craft joined Demorest with 11 points in the contest.
