By Carey Phillips
Greenlee Flynn scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half Friday sparking Smoky Mountain to a 55-36 Mountain Seven Conference women’s basketball victory over North Henderson at the SM gym.
Flynn also pulled down 14 rebounds and came up with five steals for the Lady Mustangs (9-8, 4-4).
Lexie Gunter had 14 points for the Lady Knights.
“I was quite impressed with the girls,” Coach Ollin Dunford said. “We had worked on preparing for North Henderson. We knew they were better than when we played them the first time.”
He noted that turnovers were cut to less than 25 percent of the season average.
“The girls were focused from the start, and they stayed that way,” Dunford said. “That kind of commitment definitely payed dividends. We played basketball and were clicking on all cylinders.”
Speaking of Flynn, he said, “She was truly the dominant force out there offensively and defensively. She dictated the pace of our game. Her steals were crucial. Greenlee was truly in her zone.”
He singled out Aiden Nicholson for her defense.
SM took the lead for good at 9-8 on Xaila Spencer’s free throw with 3:42 to play in the first quarter, which ended 12-10.
The Lady Mustangs ended the half on a 10-2 run, including four by Flynn, to hold a 28-18 advantage.
The margin was 38-23 at the end of the third period after Alli Fortner’s layup with 12 seconds left.
The game’s biggest lead was 51-30 on two free throws by Flynn with 3:23 to go in the game.
Flynn’s points came on 10 field goals and three free throws.
Fortner finished with eight points, Becca Corona-Smith added seven, Suzannah Raynor totaled six, Spencer netted five, Aaliyah Voss scored four and Kailey Broom had two.
The Lady Mustang JVs are 8-6 after a 39-26 win. Dyritzis Chinea scored 18 points, and Chesney Coggins had 10.
SM failed to score in the first quarter but only trailed 2-0 before leading 11-4 at halftime and 24-13 through three periods.
“It was good to get a win,” Coach Jason Melvin said. “We had a slow start, but halfway through the second quarter we were able to finally get some points on the board and find a little bit of a rhythm. We started to play aggressively and really buckle down on defense. Offensively we are still struggling, but we made some great passes to set up easy looks on transition. I’m happy for the win, and I hope it lights a little fire for us to finish the season strong.”
