MC Looks to Rebound Against Belhaven on Saturday

MARYVILLE – Maryville fought hard but fell to conference foe LaGrange 67-61 on Friday night in the Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
 
The Scots (5-7) were led by Courtney Carruthers, who put together an 18-point performance while shooting 33 percent (6-for-18).
 
Throughout the tightly contested matchup, there were seven lead changes and five ties.
 
MC's biggest lead came of the game in the first quarter when a layup from Hailey Cronk put the Scots up 13-5 with 3:28 remaining.
 
The only quarter that ended with a scoring margin larger than two points was the second when LaGrange (9-5) outscored Maryville 19-12. The Scots found themselves down 14 points with 3:33 seconds in the half. Before the buzzer sounded for halftime though, MC went on an 11-2 and went into intermission trailing just 32-27.
 
Maryville managed to take the lead again with 4:27 remaining in the third when Ella Haney Sunk two free throws to put her squad up 44-43.
 
From that moment on, there were six lead changes and five ties as the Panthers took home their first conference victory of the season.
 
The thorn in Maryville's side all night was Zyhia Johnson. The second-year guard put up a career-high 29 points on 53 percent shooting (9-for-17) while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
 
Olivia Cathers led Maryville with a career-high 11 rebounds while contributing five points to the Scots' scoring effort.
 
The Scots look to rebound on Saturday when they face off against Belhaven in another conference matchup. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.