Peebles’ Abigail Smalley drives the baseline in action from the Lady Indians’ November 21 win over Hillsboro. Smalley scored 10 points in the win, one of four Lady Indians in double figures. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Johnson’s 30 paces 74-51 Peebles win
Peebles’ Caydence Carroll looks for a path to the basket as the Lady Indians knocked off Hillsboro 74-51 on November 21. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Fresh off a season opening six-point win over Greenfield McClain, Coach Sidney Pell and her Peebles Lady Indians were on their home court on Monday, November 21, hosting the Hillsboro Lady Indians in another non-conference affair. The tribal invaders from the north found the PHS gymnasium to be unfriendly territory as the host Lady Indians handed them a resounding 74-51 defeat, behind four players in double figures, led by Payton Johnson’s 30-point night.
“Starting off non-conference takes a little pressure off,” said Coach Pell after the big win. “We played well tonight outside of the first three or four minutes were slow but we kicked it in after that. We got a little more out of everybody tonight and that makes such a difference. Payton will do what she is going to do and we are pretty confident that she can do that most nights but everyone else played well tonight and we shot the ball really well. There was a lid on the basket at Greenfield but we shot it a lot better tonight.”
The Lady Indians circled the wagons early in this one, using runs of 7-0 and 10-0 in the first quarter, after their visitors had used a 9-0 run to taken 11-5 lead at the 4:13 mark of the opening stanza. That lead disappeared quickly as leads can in the era of the three-point shot as Peebles got back to back long distance dial ups from Lydia Maddox and Payton Johnson and then a Johnson free throw to go up 12-11.
A bucket by Hillsboro’s Kallie Fraley temporarily gave her team the lead back, but that was the last time that the advantage would be on the visitors’ side of the scoreboard as Peebles finished the quarter on a 10-0 run, highlighted by another Johnson trey, and baskets from Rylee Barr and Lily McFarland. McFarland finished off the opening period in style, hitting a three-ball from the corner to make it a 22-13 Peebles advantage.
A basket in transition by Angel Gray to open the second quarter made it a 12-0 run before Hillsboro got a three-ball from Blake Herdman, which was immediately answered by Johnson doing the same for the home side. A pair steal and scores by Johnson and a basket by Abigail Smalley made it a 9-0 spurt and a 33-16 Peebles advantage.
In the final 1:25 of the first half, the home team got a steal and layup from Gray and a putback bucket by Caydence Carroll to cruise into halftime with a commanding 37-20 lead.
The two teams traded scores to open the second half before a Herdman three cut the Peebles lead to 39-25, but a following 9-2 Peebles run, capped by a Maddox triple, stretched the home team’s lead out to 48-27. The hot outside shooting continued for the Peebles squad as McFarland hit another one from downtown and the final points of the third period came when Smalley found the bottom of the net from behind the arc to send her team to the final quarter with a 58-37 advantage.
In the final period, the Peebles girls maintained their large advantage with Johnson accounting for their first eight points and another Smalley three-pointer making it 69-46. The last two baskets for the home team came from Caydence Carroll as the Lady Indians, Peebles that is, rolled too a convincing 74-51 win, their second of the season in as many tries.
After tallying 26 points in the season opening win over Greenfield, Payton Johnson topped that by scoring 30 in the win over Hillsboro to easily lead all scorers. She was joined in double figures by teammates Lydia Maddox with 12 and Lily McFarland and Abigail Smalley with 10 apiece. The Lady Indians nailed 10 three-point shots in the win.
Hillsboro was led by 21 points from Blake Herdman,
Coach Pell and her squad were back in action on Monday, November 28, hosting Whiteoak in their first Southern Hills Athletic contest. On Thursday, December 1 they will host North Adams in another conference battle between the two county rivals.
Hillsboro
13 7 17 14 —51
Peebles
22 15 21 16 —74
Hillsboro (51): K. Miles 2 2-6 6, Scott 1 0-0 2, A. Miles 3 0-2 7, Boyd 1 0-0 3, Garman 0 0-2 0, Fraley 4 0-0 8, Herdman 5 9-12 21, Taylor 2 0-3 4, Team 18 11-25 51.
Peebles (74): Barr 1 0-0 2, Maddox 5 0-0 12, McFarland 4 0-0 10, Johnson 12 2-4 30, Smalley 3 2-2 10, Carroll 3 0-0 6, Gray 2 0-0 4, Team 30 4-6 74.
Three-Point Goals:
Hillsboro (4)- Herdman 2, Boyd 1, A. Miles 1
Peebles (10)- Maddox 2, McFarland 2, Johnson 4, Smalley 2
