By Chris Yow
SPRING HILL — Any great heavyweight bout begins with the two fighters feeling one another out for a round or two. For the Summit and Spring Hill girls basketball teams, that was the entire first quarter.
From there, however, the Lady Raiders were throwing haymakers, scoring 21 unanswered points en route to a 52-33 win.
Spring Hill improved to 11-4 on the year and 6-0 in District 11-AAA, where they now sit alone atop the standings with a perfect 6-0 record. The Lady Raiders handed Summit its first district loss of the year.
That win eclipses Spring Hill’s district wins total from the previous four seasons combined (4-12, 1-15, 0-13, 0-12).
“It’s certainly better being on this side of it,” coach Matt Horton said. “But we’ve got six or seven tough games in a row we have to get ready for.”
Cole Alderson and Prairie Stedman worked against Summit’s Ellie Colson for much of the game, and though Alderson played through foul trouble the duo were able to limit the Eastern Illinois signee’s impact. Colson finished with just 10 points, including only two in the second half.
“I know (Summit) coach (John) Wild likes to run it through the post, but our game plan didn’t focus on any one player,” Horton said. “They’re all good.”
That defense was on full display as the first quarter came to an end and into the second quarter, as the Lady Raiders went on a 21-0 run before Colson finally found a bucket with 2:22 to go in the frame. Colson then hit a pair of free throws and another lay up to help her team end the first half on a 6-0 run of their own.
Spring Hill led 27-14 at the break.
“We came up empty on our last five drives of the first half,” Horton said. “We have some things we still have to fix.”
In the third quarter, Spring Hill was content to hold the ball and run some clock, but the Spartan women clawed back with an aggressive defensive output. Summit was able to cut the lead to as close as 29-24 by the end of the quarter and 35-30 in the fourth, but the Lady Raiders were deadly from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting 11-of-13 from the line, and closed the game on a 15-2 run to finish. Horton was impressed with the second-half effort, considering his team was playing their second game in as many nights.
“We had a tough game against Dickson County (on Tuesday), and the way we were able to fight through the second half, I was really proud of our team,” he said.
Summit will have a chance to avenge this loss on Friday at home, as they host Spring Hill.
Summit rides balanced offense to win
All but one member of the Summit boys got in the scorebook on Wednesday, as the Spartans cruised to a 70-39 win at Spring Hill.
An 18-point effort — behind four 3-pointers — from Konata Werts and 16 from Bradley Stewart were the standout performances for the Spartans, who improved to 4-3 in 11-AAA play with the win. No other Summit player scored more than seven points.
Summit jumped out to a quick lead and led 14-4 at the end of the first quarter and 34-18 at the break. A 23-point outburst in the third sealed the deal for the Spartans.
Spring Hill girls 52, Summit 33
S 6 8 10 9 33
SH 5 22 2 23 52
Summit (33) – Delaney Noe 5, Bergen Allee 8, EK Bratton 3, Cydney Wright 3, Ellie Colson 10, Nicole Rizane 4
Spring Hill (52) – Kat Carter 2, Cole Alderson 12, Prairie Stedman 16, Belle Brashear 6, Sierra Stedman 12, Jeyce Brashear 4
3-pointers – Summit 4 (Noe, Allee 2, Bratton), Spring Hill 3 (B. Brashear 2, S. Stedman)
Summit boys 70, Spring Hill 39
S 14 20 23 13 70
SH 4 14 12 9 39
Summit (70) – Andrew Smith 5, Destin Wade 3, Bradley Stewart 14, Tre Hunter 6, Dominick Hollis 4, Konata Werts 18, Brady Pierce 7, CJ Jones 2, Aden Byrd 3, Tanner Shake 1, Marcus White 2, Graham Schneider 2, Alex Pollard 3
Spring Hill (39) – Jayden Davis 9, Ricola Alderson 2, Brytten Georges 12, Jaylen Rucker 10, Quintaveous Simmons 4, Blake Smith 2
3-pointers – Summit 8 (Werts 4, Steward 2, Pierce, Pollard), Spring Hill 5 (Georges 4, Davis)
Photos by Chris Yow / SM-Tn Sports