Lady Longhorns suffer first loss

LINDEN — A night filled with turnovers and foul trouble led to the first loss of the year for the Marengo Academy Lady Longhorns (20-1) as they fell 45-40 to Pickens Academy (14-2).

The game-changing sequence came with 1:43 to go in the contest. After Brooke Smyly had given her team its first lead since the opening quarter with an And-1 drive the put Marengo up 38-36, a foul call compounded with a technical proved a disastrous sequence for the Lady Longhorns.

The pair of whistles allowed Marion Colvin and Elisabeth Haskins each the opportunity to sink two free throws and put the Lady Pirates up 40-38 in addition to retaining possession. That possession ended with another Haskins free throw to stretch the Pickens lead to 41-38.

Playing without backcourt mate Katie Tucker following a knee injury that occurred last week, Chandler Stenz drew her team to within one with a drive that cut the deficit to 41-40.

But Marengo’s chances would fade quickly on the ensuing possession as Pickens missed a pair of free throws and managed to retain control of the ball off the carom. With 23 seconds to play, Colvin scored off the inbound pass to make it 43-40 before Haskins stole the Lady Longhorn inbound to all but seal the win.

Pickens went 2o-for-30 from the free throw line on the night while Marengo shot just 3-for-7 from the stripe.

Haskins led all scorers with 21 points while Colvin finished with 16. Kacy Noland, the only other player to score for Pickens, finished the night with eight points.

Stenz led Marengo with 17 points. Smyly added nine points and seven rebounds. Andrea Edmonds had eight points, four steals and three assists in the loss while Anna Michael Crocker had four points, four rebounds and three assists.