Hornet girls solve Gallatin for another tournament title
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Hamilton’s Lady Hornets shook off the strength of Gallatin on Saturday afternoon to capture the championship of the Lawson Invitational Tournament by a 45-28 spread.
The Lady Bulldogs, who have excelled this season by forcing mistakes and turnovers with their full court pressure, could not shake the veteran Lady Hornets, who were able to slow the game’s tempo and take advantage of their strength and athleticism in the paint.
Wren Tolen nailed the first shot of the game for Gallatin, but the Lady Bulldogs suffered a scoreless stretch for the next five minutes as the Lady Hornets throttled back Gallatin’s transition game. Hamilton took a 12-8 lead early in the second quarter, despite a run of eight straight GHS points from Tolen.
The Lady Hornets made it a double digit lead in the second period when Raychel Whitaker converted a three-point play (field goal and free throw), then stole the ball for a short layup. Maggie Strange hit a short jumper to knock the lead back to 20-14, but Hamilton finished with a flourish with buckets inside from Jessie Woody and Taryn Bruce.
The two squads combined for 18 fouls in the first half, most coming on attempts to tie up a jump ball.
The second half proved to be more of the same. Hamilton upped its lead from the third quarter to mid-fourth period. Gallatin edged back to a 10-point deficit in the fourth but could get no closer.
Tolen finished with 11 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs, and was an all-tournament pick, along with Hamilton’s Woody, Lexington’s Jelessa Stafford, Lawson’s Jasmine Kassanavoid, Richmond’s Elizabeth Farnan and Hamilton’s Bruce as MVP.