Randolph Scores Last in 45-44 Decision
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dang. This close.
Maryville played its tails off for the second straight day against, on paper, a superior opponent. And this time the Scots fell one point shy in a 45-44 loss to Randolph here Thursday at the Daytona Beach Shootout.
The Scots trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and were down 26-15 at halftime before rallying against a Randolph team that is now 11-2 and winners of nine in a row. Maryville scored the first 12 points of the second half, and it was a game to the bitter end.
Randolph's Kylie Stark hit the game-winner, a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3.7 seconds remaining and her team trailing by two.
After a timeout and advance of the ball to the front court, Maryville's Ella Haney worked her way for a contested 16-footer. But it was off the mark and that was that.
Huskey Put Scots in Front
Emma Huskey had given the Scots their final lead of the game, first with a put-back layup with 37.4 seconds left and then by making one of two free throws with 18.9 showing. Randolph advanced the ball and found Stark for her only 3-pointer of the game in four tries.
Maryville head coach Darrin Travillian's plan to make these games in Florida as ugly as possible worked to near perfection. Travillian knew his team would have to rely on defense and effort with leading scorer Courtney Carruthers sidelined for both games.
"We were playing without our leading scorer and our point guard, and somebody who is a zone-buster," Travillian said. "We would love to have had Courtney's shot today against that zone, but that's OK. We have to keep learning to step up and play when she's out of the game."
Travillian admitted that it took the better part of a half for the team to begin making headway on the offensive end.
"Once we started doing that, we got some clean looks, and we got some stuff around the bucket and came out with some good momentum," Travillian said. "That slow start hurt us. We were one possession away from being 2-0 down here, but we were two possessions away from being 0-2. We did enough defensively to win both ball games, so we are getting to a place where we can say we are going to guard people, and we are going to make it tough for the other team on that end of the floor.
"We ticked every box defensively that we set out to do today, except for rebounding (Randolph 39-37). Everything else, we did."
18-10 Free Throw Scoring Edge
Huskey led all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor, followed by Haney with 10 points. Huskey added a game-high eight rebounds, as did Chloe Roark. Stark and Cameron O'Neil were the leading scorers for Randolph with 9 points apiece.
Turnovers were fairly even at 23 for Randolph and 21 for Maryville, but points-off-turnovers were decisive in a 28-13 scoring edge for the Wildcats. Maryville once again had the advantage at the free throw line, outscoring the Wildcats 18-8.
"This has been an eight-day journey, and we went 3-2 with a conference win in there," Travillian said of the team's five-game swing through Georgia and Florida. "We held every single team we played under their season scoring average by a considerable margin, and we've learned a little bit how to play.
"We were in a couple of close ones here and it's a great jumping off point toward conference play in January. If we keep growing and learning the lessons that are out there, we are trending in the right direction. We've got young players logging major minutes, and we will take that right now."
The Scots finish the preconference portion of their schedule at 4-6 and are back in action Jan. 3 at Covenant. The women's game of that CCS doubleheader tips at 5 p.m.