
In this photo, the Chillicothe defense has Peebles’ Abigail Smalley bottled up, but they couldn’t bottle her up beyond this play as Smalley fired in 21 points to lead the Lady Indians to a 52-41 victory. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Peebles prevails 52-41 at Hoops Classic
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Victories have been tough to come by this season for Coach Sidney Pell and her Peebles Lady Indians but Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Brown Winter Hoops Classic turned out to be one on the plus side. Behind 21 points from senior Abigail Smalley, the Lady Indians used a first quarter 11-0 run to take a lead they never gave up as they knocked off the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers 52-41 for their fourth win of the season.
In Saturday’s contest on the hardwood at Eastern Brown, the Lady Indians fell behind early 4-0, but then scored the final 11 points of the opening period, holding the Lady Cavs scoreless for over six minutes. The Peebles run began with a step back three pointer from Smalley, followed up by a putback bucket from freshman Kendall Myers. Smalley hit a pair from the charity stripe then scored on an offensive rebound and the final points of the quarter came on a perfectly executed out-of-bounds play that resulted in a Myers basket and an 11-4 advantage.
Peebles’ Lainee Barr opened the second frame with a steal and score and a later basket at the 5:40 mark from Angel Gray gave the Lady Indians a 17-6 lead. The Lady Cavs then woke up from their early slumber and reeled off eight straight of their own to cut the Peebles lead to a single possession. Baskets from Gray and Myers pushed the lead back to seven but Chillicothe finished the first half with a 5-1 spurt to slice the Peebles lead to 22-19 at the half.
The Lady Indians came out of the locker room strong and controlled the third quarter, beginning it with consecutive baskets from Gray and Alyssa Smalley. The Lady Cavs matched that with two scores and then pulled within two on a three-pointer from Natalie Dudley. After that Dudley trey, the Peebles girls hit their stride and took off on a 12-0 run that pretty much sealed the deal. The run began with a bucket and later free throw from Myers followed up by Abigail Smalley scoring nine straight of their own, including a pair of three-balls, on the second of which she was fouled and converted the rare four-point play. That gave the Lady Indians a 40-26 lead and though Chillicothe got the final four points of the period, Coach Pell’s squad was still in firm control.
The Lady Indians added to their lead early in the fourth with buckets by Gray and Abigail Smalley and the Lady Cavs never got the deficit back below double digits. Peebles increased the lead to 49-35 on baskets from Paysen Shiveley and Myers, closing out their scoring for the day on a pair of Shiveley free throws and another from MaRhea Unger. Win number four came as the final horn sounded with the Lady Indians claiming the 11-point triumph.
Abigail Smalley had one of her best games of her season, leading the winners with the aforementioned 21 points. Smalley was joined in double figures by Kendall Myers, who tallied 14 points. Angel gray also added 8 for the Lady Indians who improved to 4-13 overall.
The Lady Cavs were led in scoring by 17 points from senior Mallorie McCloy.
The Peebles girls were back in southern Hills Athletic Conference action on Monday night with a road trip to Fairfield and follow that up with another conference battle on Thursday, January 30 with a trip to Ripley.
Chillicothe
4 15 11 11 —41
Peebles
11 11 18 12 —52
Chillicothe (41): Mendel 3, Knapp 4, Mallorie McCloy 17, Wade 5, Clark 7, Dudley 5
Peebles (52): Barr 2, Alyssa Smalley 2, Shiveley 4, Abigail Smalley 21, Myers 14, Gray 8, Unger 1
Three-Point Goals:
Chillicothe (2)- Mendel 1, Dudley 1
Peebles (3)- Abigail Smalley 3