Lady Bulldogs fight hard, fall to Richland

By Dennis Holley Tribune Correspondent
Posted 12/1/20

The Richland Lady Raiders made the short journey over Highway 129 to take on the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs in Tuesday night’s opening game. The Lady Raiders used a 14-3 run at the end of the first quarter and coupled with a stifling pressure defense, eased past the Lady Bulldogs by a score of 50-40...

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Lady Bulldogs fight hard, fall to Richland

Posted

The Richland Lady Raiders made the short journey over Highway 129 to take on the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs in Tuesday night’s opening game.

The Lady Raiders used a 14-3 run at the end of the first quarter and coupled with a stifling pressure defense, eased past the Lady Bulldogs by a score of 50-40.

Abbie Woodard led the Lady Bulldogs in the scoring column with nine points and Meri Hannah Walker and Gracie Turner chipped in with eight points apiece.

Richland’s Jessie Jennings led all scorers with 18 points.

Woodard sank a free throw to put the Lady Bulldogs up 1-0 before Jennings swished in her first basket and Lexi Warren answered for Cornersville with a basket off a nifty assist by Turner, putting the Lady Bulldogs in the lead, 3-2.

Richland’s Halle Braden canned a 3-pointer and Jennings canned an old-fashion three-point play then finished the run with another basket to put Richland up by nine points, 11-3.

A put-back basket by Woodard cut into the Richland lead to make the score 11-5.

Walker added a 3-pointer for Cornersville to make it 11-8 before Richland then went on a 9-0 run to open up a 12-point lead.

Walker sank a free throw to end the scoring in the first quarter with the Lady Raiders leading 20-9.

The second quarter saw the Lady Bulldogs playing the Lady Raiders close as Kayli Childress and Annabelle Mulliniks sank 3-pointers and Warren added free throws and Turner scored a basket inside.

The Lady Raiders maintained their lead with Gracie Braden and Jennings keeping the Lady Bulldogs at bay.

At the end of the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs were holding their own trailing by 12 points, 31-19.

With three left in the quarter the Lady Bulldogs closed to within nine points at 35-26.

Then two trips down court by the Lady Bulldogs resulted in two turnovers and two 3-point baskets by Braden as Richland bumped the lead back to 15 points and when the quarter ended, Cornersville trailed 17 points at 45-28.

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Bulldogs fight and scratch, but the lead was just too much to overcome.

Turner scored six points for the Lady Bulldogs in the last quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs have now lost four straight games against the Richland.

“They (Lady Bulldogs) never quit, that is what I ask of them,” Cornersville coach Martha Jane McMasters said. “I had a game plan that they executed effectively. That first quarter run they made, we did not recover from that, getting behind like that is hard to overcome.”

The Lady Bulldogs (0-4) welcome Santa Fe (0-2) on Friday night in search of their first victory of the 2020-2021 season.

Richland 20 11 14 5-50

Cornersville 9 10 9 12-40

Richland (50): Jessie Jennings 18, Gracie Braden 10, Hallie Braden 9, A C Hewitt 5, Ava Schrader 4, Gracie Adams 2, Danica Bridges 1, Harlee Rich 1.

Three-Point Goals (5): H. Braden 3, G. Braden, Hewitt

Free Throws (7-for-11): Jennings 2-for-3, G. Braden 3-for-4, Bridges 1-for-2, Rich 1-for-2.

Cornersville (40): Abbie Woodard 9, Meri Hannah Walker 8, Gracie Turner 8, Kayli Childress 6, Lexie Warren 4, Annabelle Mulliniks 3, Grayson Riner 2.

Three-Point Goals (5): Childress 2, Walker 2, Mulliniks.

Free Throws (7-for-12): Woodard 3-for-4, Warren 2-for-2, Walker 2-for-4, Turner 0-for-2.

Halftime Score: Richland 31, Cornersville 19.