The Lady Indians opened the season in a non-counting scrimmage against rivals Rabun Gap on the home court Tuesday, coming out with a 54-38 loss.
The first quarter saw the Lady Indians pull ahead 6-0 quickly and later increased the lead with a 3-point play by junior Veronaye Charlton. TFS led 17-13 at the end of the first.
In the second, a 21-15 lead vanished when Rabun Gap eventually took a 24-21 lead on a couple of 3-pointers. However, the Lady Indians went on a 5-0 run to end the half up 26-24. Charlton had 12 points in the first half, while Macy Murdock had six and Denika Lightbourne four. The lone varsity freshmen, Haygen James and Breelyn Wood, both scored their first unofficial varsity points in the first half.
The third quarter proved the dagger for TFS, as the Lady Indians scored just one point and had no buckets until the 6:38 mark in the fourth quarter. Rabun Gap went on a 9-0 run to go up 33-26 and led 37-27 at the end of the third. The visitors opened the fourth with another run to go up 43-27 before TFS stormed back to within 45-38. That was as close as the Lady Indians would get though, as it was 54-38 when the final buzzer sounded.
Charlton led with 18 points, while Lightbourne added 11. Murdock had six, while both James and Wood ended with two apiece. The girls open the regular season on Friday at Mt. Paran.
The Indians saw rivals Rabun Gap pull away late in the first half behind a flurry of 3-pointers to an eventual 71-46 final Tuesday night at Tallulah Falls. TFS held close until midway through the second, when the Eagles got hot from beyond the arc.
Rabun Gap opened the game with a 7-0 run, but TFS pulled within 7-4. A 16-4 Eagles lead led to an Indians timeout, and the visitors led 20-11 at the end of the first. The Indians pulled within 20-15 in the second quarter after going on a run, forcing the Eagles to burn a timeout. Rabun Gap then ran up to a 42-20 halftime lead. Anfernee Hanna and Charlie Cody led the Indians with nine and seven points in the first half, respectively.
The second half saw Rabun Gap pull away, though TFS got the crowd ignited when both Devonte Allen and Hanna threw down thunderous back-to-back dunks, and Hanna added a 3-point play to pull within 45-27. By the end of the third, however, the Eagles held a sizeable 63-31 lead on the way to a 71-46 final.
The Indians were paced by Hanna’s team-high 14 points, which included a 3-pointer. Cody had nine, while Allen and Diego Crotta both had six points. Milos Vico and Lincoln Hall both had four points, while Zakhar Valasiuk had two and Gavin Page one.
The Indians will officially open the regular season on Friday at Mt. Paran.
