Lady Raiders Beat South Shelby in Nail biter

By Marlana Smith

  The North Shelby Lady Raiders traveled to South Shelby to take on the Lady Birds on Friday, January 3. NS won 49-43.

  North Shelby coach Landon Daniel said, “Roller coaster of a game that really pushed us as a team and I’m just really proud of how the girls never quit and were mentally prepared to walk out of South with a win.”

  The Lady Raiders got things started as Lalaine Treasure put in a bucket. South Shelby’s Carly Collins followed with a basket. The rest of the quarter was all NS as it exploded, adding 15 more points for a 17-2 lead.

  NS’s Ceairra Kirby got things started for the Lady Raiders putting in a bucket to begin the second quarter. North Shelby’s Presley Stoneburner had the Lady Raiders next five points. 

  “We had a great start on both ends of the floor, hitting shots offensively and attacking the basket while forcing tough shots on defense,” said Daniel. 

  With 1:06 on the clock, Collins went to the line and on her second free throw Emma Dovin rebounded the ball and was fouled. Dovin was two-for-two from the line. SS still trailed 26-9.

  With 38.2 seconds left in the quarter, Dovin scored and was fouled. Dovin was successful on the three-point play. North Shelby’s Ava Williams added two points to the board for the Lady Raiders as she was fouled twice and was two-for-four from the line. 

  Ending the first half, Dovin put in a bucket with just 2.9 seconds on the clock. North Shelby led 28-14.

  Daniel said, “Midway through the second quarter, we started to get into some foul trouble and that forced us to change our lineups and South kind of got some momentum back at the end of the half.”

  Both teams came out fighting in the second half. It was back and forth on scoring. The Lady Birds were able to get more points on the board, but NS still led 38-27.

  In the fourth quarter, North Shelby’s Natalie Thrasher put in a bucket just 15 seconds into the quarter. SS put four points on the board in less than minute which allowed them to only trail 40-31.

  Treasure went to the line with 4:23 on the clock and was two-for-two adding to NS’s lead, 42-31.

  With both teams in bonus, there was 21 total free throws attempted and 13 of them were made.

  “I thought we came out in the third and maintained our lead throughout most of the quarter but couldn’t ever get on a real push again to extend it. Foul trouble again got us some in the late moments of the game but we composed ourselves and did what we had to do to win,” said Daniel.

  Things started to become intense after South Shelby’s Mallory Wood put in a three-pointer and then a bucket only putting the Lady Birds down 45-42.

  With 51.8 seconds left in the game, South Shelby’s Miranda Patterson was sent to the line and was one-for-two putting the Lady Birds down by two. 

  The last two plays of the game were made by NS as Lilly Cook and Caroline Linberger both went to the line and were successful securing the Lady Raiders lead and the victory.

  Daniel said, “Very proud of all the girls and I think we learned a ton about ourselves with this game that will help us in the upcoming weeks.”

  Linberger was the leading scorer as she had 14 points.