His Lady Rebels limited visiting archrival Huntingdon to 18-of-47 shooting and a scant 46 total points. Only problem, the Lady Rebs had immense difficulty mounting any kind of offense.
As a result, the Fillies left with a 46-31 victory on Saturday night.

"We played hard and I'm not upset with our effort," Ridley said. "We just couldn't get anything going on offense."

Huntingdon's quickness, aggressive play and strength inside made McKenzie rush on offense and kick the ball around a bit. In the process, Huntingdon used the inside-outside game to mount a 25-12 lead by halftime.

"We did an outstanding job on the boards, especially on offense," said Huntingdon coach Mike Henson.

The Fillies had 32 total rebounds, 19 on the offensive side. McKenzie simply was overmatched on the glass. That was evident early. Huntingdon was a cool 3-18 shooting in the first quarter, but had seven second-chance shots. Meanwhile, McKenzie had trouble reacting to Huntingdon's defensive speed and committed four turnovers and missed six of their first eight shots.

"Their defense kept us from running our offensive sets," said Ridley. "We rushed but that's because of their defense. They are so physical and so strong."

The Fillies seemed to be in control. Jessica Hilliard found her range outside, Crystal Fuller, a UTM signee, imposed her will inside. HHS fashioned a 38-18 lead as the horn sounded to end the third. But a foul at the buzzer enabled MHS sophomore guard Brooke Cole to drain three free throws and cut into the lead. Henson was displeased with the events and tersely lamented the fact that the Fillies had just let McKenzie back into the game.

"I don't know what happened to us in the fourth quarter," said Henson, reluctant to even talk about it.

As good as Huntingdon was in the first three quarters, it was almost as bad in the fourth. The Fillies committed 12 turnovers in the fourth and was a paltry 4-8 from the floor and pulled down only five boards. In the prior three quarters, HHS only coughed up the ball 11 times.

Lady Rebel freshman Anna Trull drained a three as McKenzie outscored Huntingdon 10-2 down the stretch. But the big lead opened early by Huntingdon was too much for the Lady Rebs to surmount.

As a team, McKenzie was 9-32 shooting, but was 11-13 from the free throw line. McKenzie junior Hope Wyder led with 11 points. Trull had seven, but played a good defensive game. Cole and Renee Crawley each scored five.

Fuller led Huntingdon with 20 points. Hilliard had 11. Waneca Melton had eight and Brooke Pritchard scored two, but pulled down six rebounds.

Huntingdon shot 51.7 percent from the floor in its Saturday night game at McKenzie. The Mustangs had an exceptional night as they topped the Rebels 76-37.

McKenzie coach Larry Joe Smith thought his team's encounter with the Mustangs might go down to the wire. He didn't anticipate the Mustangs to shoot lights out.

"This is probably the most impressive they've looked all year," said Smith. "They were quicker and they shot better than I thought they would."

Huntingdon established the tempo early, rolling to a 21-4 lead in the first frame and connecting on eight of its last nine shots in the opening segment. In the second frame, Huntingdon pulled down 18 rebounds. For many teams, that's a good game.

"We shot it really well," said Huntingdon coach Jason Morris. "We set a goal to have 25 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive."

Mission accomplished. In addition to hitting 31 of 60 field goals, the Mustangs had 43 total boards, 17 on the offensive end.

McKenzie had problems mounting any kind of offense, connecting on 14-53 shots. It had 30 rebounds, but only 11 second chances on the offensive side. To be sure, it was Huntingdon's night from the outset.

John Thomas had another good game, scoring 16 points in three quarters and softening up the Rebel defense with his triple. Terrance Bell added another three bomb, then another and the Mustangs were in the midst of a 14-2 run. The Mustangs romped to a 25-8 lead after one.

Freshman Chris Donald got it going in the second frame as Huntingdon embarked on a 17-3 spree. McKenzie sophomore Beau Brown ended the surge with his bucket, but Blake Hampton flushed a three and Garrett Meggs added a deuce and the Mustangs led 47-13.

As the third began, Huntingdon inflated its cushion to 40 points, 55-15. Bell and Thomas hit a pair of threebies within 25 seconds of each other. McKenzie made a bit of a comeback as the third ended. Bryan Huffman scored, followed by a paint job from junior Clint Anderson, a stickback by Drew Hayes and a bucket from senior John French.

The damage was done.

Brown and Brice Priestly drained triples in the fourth quarter, but the issue had long been settled.

"Things are starting to come together for us," said Morris. "But we need a lot of people stepping up for us and we need to get the post people going more."

Thomas led with 16 while Bell scored 12. Donald and Hillsman each scored 10.

"They had us changing shots and they could jump," said Smith. "I think we got intimidated a little bit inside."

French led McKenzie with 12 points. Anderson scored six while Daniel Duncan and Brown each had five. Huffman had four.
In other action:

McKENZIE BOYS 65, BIG SANDY 46 at Big Sandy - McKenzie scored 26 points from the free throw line and had production from a lot of areas.

John French scored 20, John Craig Howell added 12 and Drew Hayes scored 10. Daniel Duncan scored nine and Huffman and Anderson each had six.

Matthew French had 13 and Matheny scored 12 to lead Big Sandy.

McKenzie outscored the Red Devils 21-11 in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Hollow Rock-Bruceton Tigers faced ECS on Monday and then played Adamsville on Tuesday night in the final game of the Huntingdon Point Guard Christmas Tournament. While they were somewhat overpowered on Monday night, they came out hitting well and gave Adamsville all they wanted in the 8:30 p.m. game on Tuesday night.

Tigers 58-ECS 75
The Tigers first game found them trailing 18-9 after one and 33-24 at intermission. However, by the end of the third period, they trailed 51-33 and then lost the contest 75-58. Kerry Hunt had his best game of the season as he connected on 17 fourth quarter points and scored 29 overall for the night. Orey Willis connected for 12, Albiro King had nine, Tanner Stepp scored seven and Zac Davis scored four in the loss. Although the Tigers remained very much in the game in the first half and came out hitting well the final period, the third quarter was their undoing as ECS outscored them 18-9.

Tigers 73-Adamsville 87
The Tigers played much better offensively in their final tournament game, but the Cardinals just had too many weapons and scored well throughout the game as well in the 87-63 loss. Four Tigers scored in double figures with King leading the way with 25, followed by Willis with 16, Hunt with 14 and Davis with 11. Stepp contributed seven. Adamsville took a 21-13 lead after one, led 38-31 at intermission and then led 66-54 after three. The Tigers were outscored from the field with the Cardinals getting 26 points from their bench.

Hollow Rock-Bruceton reopened their regular season schedule on Friday night against Huntingdon.

Lady Rebels 59-FCS 52
The Lady Rebels came out hitting extremely well in the first half and led 15-6 after one and 35-23 at intermission. After three, the Lady Rebels lead was 47-28. Lady Rebel Coach Dan Ridley used the large lead as an opportunity to play the complete bench although the Lady Commanders kept their starters in the game and narrowed the margin significantly. Anna Trull hit six three-pointers and led all scorers with 22 total points, followed by Hope Wyder and Renee Crawley with 14 each, Sarah Hartz with four, Brooke Cole with three and Courtney Wiggins with two.

McKenzie reopened their regular schedule on Friday night against Big Sandy and on Saturday night against Huntingdon.

Rebels 28-Crockett County 54
McKenzie’s Rebels were unable to compete offensively against Crockett County last Monday night. After leading 12-10 after one, the Rebels were unable to score in the second period, Crockett County took a 20-12 at intermission and by the end of three, led the Rebels 35-20. John French scored all 12 first quarter points, but was unable to score after that point. Daniel Duncan added six, Bryan Huffman scored four and Clint Anderson, Beau Brown and Hunter Downing each scored two.

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