Lady Titans cruise into semifinals

Credit: Bonnie Byrd/bbevent.photoreflect.com

McDowell’s Xandi Gellman scores two of her 13 points during the Lady Titans’ 85-47 win over Independence Monday in the Burke Christmas Invitational.

By Dan Crawley | mcdowell_youth@yahoo.com
Published: December 29, 2009

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MORGANTON — The opening round of the Burke County Invitational provided few dramatics for the McDowell Lady Titans as they dominated Independence from the opening tip en route to an 85-47 blowout.
The victory advanced the Lady Titans to Tuesday's semifinal against Concord at East Burke. Results were not available at press time.
McDowell (10-0) was never challenged in the contest against a young and inexperienced Independence squad. The Lady Patriots committed 28 turnovers, with 16 of those coming in the first half against a variety of defensive alignments that the Lady Titans implemented.
McDowell took advantage of the turnovers and properly executed their patented transition game. Meanwhile, the Lady Titans were much more efficient, committing only 13 turnovers in the game.
The contest was tied 4-4 nearly three minutes in, but that would be the closest Independence would get the rest of the way. McDowell scored 14 unanswered points in a span of 2:05 late in the first quarter to catapult their margin to 24-10 after one quarter.
The Lady Titans were just getting started. They increased the lead to 48-21 at halftime.
The second quarter began with an 12-2 run by McDowell during the opening 3:10.
Even with the win well in hand, the Lady Titans continued to work hard, especially on the defensive end, allowing Independence only four points in the third quarter to take a 71-25 lead.
The Lady Patriots did salvage the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Titans 22-14, including eight straight at the end of the game against the McDowell reserves.
"We showed them (Independence) some different looks on the defensive end," said McDowell head coach Brian Franklin. "We worked hard defensively and that created some turnovers which got the transition game going. They didn't always hustle back on defense, which gave us some chances for easy scoring opportunities which we took advantage of.
"Overall it was a good effort. We came out strong from the start, which can be a problem sometimes when playing an early game on the first day of a tournament. We didn't let that happen to us."
Eleven Lady Titans scored in the game, with six of those in double figures. Sophomore Tuccoa Brackett (7 rebounds, 2 steals) continued her recent string of solid play, leading McDowell with 14 points. Autumn Ward (4 steals, 3 assists, 2 rebounds) and Xandi Gellman (4 rebounds) added 13 points each.
Madison Thomas (2 rebounds, 1 assist) netted 12 points. Jami Medford (3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) tallied 11 points and Jaalen Corpening (7 assists, 5 steals, 4 rebounds) had a strong floor game with 10 points. A majority of her steals were a result of the aggressive half-court trap, which in result led to the assists in transition.
Kaitlin Gallion (2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Taylor Settlemyre scored three points each. Backup point guard Mary Webb (6 assists, 6 steals), MacKenzie Holland and Madalyn Davis accounted for the rest of the McDowell offense, scoring two points apiece.
Laquisha Dawkins scored 17 points for Independence.