Midgame surge lifts Friendship

HARTSVILLE — In a game of runs, Friendship Christian's girls made a 34-9 spurt stand Thursday as the Lady Commanders held off a late Trousdale County comeback to win 60-46.
The big surge vaulted Friendship from an 11-5 deficit late in the first quarter to a 39-20 lead early in the third as the Lady Commanders climbed to 11-10 for the season and 7-2 in District 8-A. Trousdale County pulled to within 53-46 with less than two minutes to play before falling to 5-17, 2-8.
"Our defense gave us our 19-point lead and then we got lax and content where we were at instead of playing hard defense that allowed them to come back on us," Lady Commander coach Deanna Teeter said.
In an interesting run of statistics, Friendship shot 48 percent from the floor to Trousdale's 26 percent, but hit just 45 percent from the free-throw line to the Lady Jackets' 75 percent. The Lady Commanders were outrebounded 43-30, but committed just 13 turnovers to Hartsville's 22.
"We did a better job of taking care of the basketball," Teeter said. "We still struggle with free throws at the end of the game. We still hit some at the end of the night. If we hadn't, it would have been much worse. We just have a mental block when it comes to shooting free throws."
With only six players dressed due to injury and illness, Trousdale sixth girl Beth Rolin entered the game early after a starter picked up two quick fouls. Rolin racked up back-to-back three-pointers to shoot the Lady Jackets to their early lead.
But Friendship fought back to within 13-11 by the first-quarter break. Gabbie Lowe caught Trousdale County 13-13 on a putback 15 seconds into the second quarter and eighth-grader Laurel Burroughs buried a 15-footer from the wing to put the Lady Commanders in front for good 17-15 with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Lowe's layup lifted the Lady Commanders to a 29-18 halftime lead.
A 10-2 start to the second half opened the 19-point spread before a Trousdale County timeout signaled a gradual slowdown in momentum.
Trousdale County's comeback reached seven points on Chelsea Dickerson's three-pointer.
Lindsay Farmer fired in all four of her free throws over the final 1:10 to seal the deal for Friendship finish her 17-point night.
Center Katy Vaughan finished with 15 points and six rebounds for Friendship. Carly Warmath flipped in 14 points while Lowe added eight, Jessi Couch four and Burroughs two.
Brown supplied 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Jackets.
Thursday's game began an NBA-like run of three games in less than three days and five in a six-day span. Friendship will travel to East Nashville tonight to face East Literature at 6 p.m. before traveling to Portland on Saturday for a noon tipoff.
"It's going to be a grueling weekend Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday," said Teeter, whose Lady Commanders will host district rivals Westmoreland and Mt. Juliet Christian early next week.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.