Lady Lions Improve to 5-0

Lovelady Hammers Madisonville, 77-38

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

LOVELADY – The excitement for Lovelady Lady Lions basketball is starting to grow in the 2021-2022 season and for good reason. The Lady Lions were 4-0 coming into their game against the Madisonville Lady Mustangs on Tuesday afternoon.

Lovelady had defeated the Class 3A Crockett Lady Bulldogs, the Class 3A Huntington Lady Red Devils, the TAPPS Class 5A Woodlands Christian Academy Warriors and the Class 2A Douglass Lady Indians, who were ranked #5 in the Class 2A preseason TABC poll.

On Tuesday, the Class 4A Lady Mustangs came calling and after a relatively slow-paced first half, the Lady Lions picked up the tempo and sent their guests back down Hwy 21 with a 77-38 loss.

As the game got underway, it appeared the afternoon start time seemed to affect the play of both teams.

Haley Davidson got the Lady Lions going with five points in the opening period of play while Lexi Price contributed four. Both Mihyia Davis and Aaliyah Jones had two each as Lovelady took a 13-9 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Madisonville’s first quarter points came from Kayla Dickey with five and Ke’Myreul with four.

The second quarter saw the Lady Lions start to pull away from the Lady Mustangs as Lovelady opened up a double-digit lead before settling for a 29-20 margin as the two teams headed to their respective locker rooms.

Jones took control of the Lady Lions’ scoring in the stanza as she poured in eight. Shyanne Pipkin broke into the scoring column with four while Price and Shelby Pugh netted two apiece to round out the second quarter scoring.

Wheaton continued to pester the Lovelady girls as she added another seven points to her total in the second quarter. Unfortunately, she didn’t get much help from her teammates as Jadyne Hooten and Brianna Johnson were the only other Lady Mustangs to score in the period. However, they only managed to split four points between the two of them.

Following the break, Lovelady ramped up the defensive pressure on one end of the court while Jones continued her hot shooting on the other end with 10 points. Davis was right behind her with eight while Price had four and Davison chipped in two giving the Lady Lions a 23-point cushion after three periods of play were in the books.

For Madisonville, Johnson led the third quarter scoring with five, Wheaton nailed a three-pointer and Dickey chipped in two.

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Lions salt the game away as they pushed the lead out to 40 at one point. Pipkin netted seven while Jada Johnson worked inside for six. Davis and Jones both contributed four apiece while Pugh closed out the final quarter with two as Lovelady crushed Madisonville by a final score of 77-38.

The Lady Mustangs were led in scoring by Ke’Myreul Wheaton with 17 and Kayla Dickey with nine. Briana Johnson went for eight and Jadyne Hooten rounded out the Madisonville scoring with four.

The Lady Lions were led in scoring by Aaliyah Jones with a game-high 24 points. She was joined in double figures by Mihyia Davis with 15, Shyanne Pipkin with 11 and Lexi Price with 10.

Haley Davidson added seven, Jada Johnson had six and Shelby Pugh chipped in four to account for the Lovelady point production on the afternoon.

The Lady Lions’ record stands now stands at 5-0. Lovelady will be off until after Thanksgiving when they will return to action against the Anderson-Shiro Lady Owls on Tuesday, Nov. 30 in Anderson.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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