Williams spearheads 8-0 run in first half to lead Lady Raiders to victory

Published 12:20 am Sunday, December 9, 2018

AMERICUS – Southland Academy forward Macy Williams scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the first half and led the Lady Raiders on an 8-0 run in the second quarter. That would be enough to lead SA to a 46-30 victory over Lee-Scott Academy, a school from Auburn, AL.

‘Today’s game was probably the best game that we’ve shot the ball in all year,” Southland head coach Ty Kinslow said. We got off to a good start. Once you start making some shots, that energy level goes up. On the defensive end, we really hunkered down. They’ve got a good offensive team. They’ve got a really good guard (Mary Mykal Prewett) that knows how to play. The girls did a good job of executing the defensive game plan. We got out on her and closed the driving lanes down. They tried to press us early on. We had great ball movement and shot a lot of layups early. We know it’s a growing process. We brought back some players, but we’ve got some younger girls stepping up. We’re starting to see improvement each game. We’re excited about that.” Kinslow also mentioned that Calyn Fort did an excellent job defensively on Prewett.

In addition to her 18 points, Williams had five rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Fort had a total of nine points. All of those points came off of three-pointers. Sydney Payne had six points and four steals, and Haleigh Warren had six points and six rebounds.

Southland Academy point guard Sydney Payne runs the offense for the Lady Raiders. Payne scored six points and had four steals against Lee-Scott Academy.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 5-0 lead. However, LSA responded with a 6-0 run of their own. Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter, but SA had a 9-6 lead by the quarter’s end.

The Lady Raiders went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 17-6 lead. Their defense was able to force LSA into committing turnovers. LSA used full-court pressure, but SA was able to pass through the Lady Warriors’ press and score on more than one occasion.

Southland’s Holly McCain with the ball. McCain scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in the win over Lee-Scott Academy.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 15-point lead on a jumper by Sydney Payne, and went into halftime up 28-16. A turning point in the second quarter took place when the Lady Warriors’ Kenedi Cleveland was whistled for a technical foul. Williams hit both technical foul shots for SA.

Early in the third quarter, Fort hit her third three-pointer of the game to put the Lady Raiders up 31-17. The Lady Raiders took total control of the game in the third quarter. With the score 38-22 in favor of SA, Holly McCain received a pass and scored on the inside to give the Lady Raiders an 18-point lead. By the 1:20 mark of the third quarter, SA had a 42-22 lead over the Lady Warriors. The Lady Raiders’ defense made it tough for LSA to score.

Southland guard Calyn Fort with the ball. Fort scored nine points on three shots from beyond the arc against Lee-Scott Academy.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

During the fourth quarter, the Lady Raiders had a comfortable lead and moved the ball around on offense to run some clock. The Lady Warriors were not able to cut the deficit below double digits. The Lady Warriors did not try to come out and foul to stop the clock, allowing SA to run more time off. With two minutes to go, Maddie Crisp was fouled while shooting. She made both free throws to give SA a 46-25 lead. SA went on to win 46-30 and improve their record to 5-1 on the season.

Up next for the Lady Raiders is a trip to Cordele, GA to take on Crisp Academy on Monday, December 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.