BY GREG MENGELT
HENRYVILLE — New Washington began its defense of the Southern Athletic Conference championship with a 62-30 victory over Henryville on Saturday.
The two-time defending SAC champs outscored the Hornets 20-9 in the first quarter and 17-3 in the third quarter to start with conference season with a victory.
“We still have a number of games (left), as far as the conference is concerned, but (beating Henryville) was a step in the right direction,” New Washington coach Terry White said.
“I think that’s a good basketball team,” Henryville coach Brian Guernsey said of the Mustangs. “I don’t think I had my team very well prepared for New Washington tonight.”
Casey Johnson led New Washington 16 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots, but what made the Mustangs unstoppable on Friday was its balanced scoring.
Lindsey Mudd had a season-high 11 points, Chloe Franklin scored nine, Katelyn Walker added six — all in the second half — and Emily Beard added five for the Mustangs.
“I was very pleased with Casey Johnson. She gave us the leadership we needed,” White said. “She opened things up for other people. That’s what we needed to have.”
New Washington opened the contest with the first eight points as Franklin hit two shots, Mudd scored in the lane and Johnson hit a 2-foot jumper.
After a Henryville timeout, Henryville’s Allison Knox scored five straight points to cut New Washington’s lead to 8-5. The Mustangs countered with a 12-4 run to end the quarter.
After a sloppy second quarter, in which both teams scored seven poings but also combined for 12 turnovers and shot 21 percent from the field, New Washington put the game away with its 17-3 third quarter.
In the third, Johnson scored six points and Walker and Doherty had four apiece.
Henryville’s downfall was its lack of balance. Through three quarters, only Allison Knox and Abby Taylor had scored for the Hornets. Knox finished with a team-high 13 points and Taylor had nine, six of which came in the first half. In the fourth quarter, four players — Hannah Gilstrap, Tyna Harbold, Ashley Dickerson and Jasmine Atkins — eached scored a bucket.
“Allison worked hard and did a good job, especially early in the game,” Guernsey said. “We have to figure out how to get the ball to certain spots on the floor. They took away (Knox) in the second half and we didn’t have an answer. We do a nice job in practice, but it doesn’t carry over to the game.”
Guernsey’s other concern was the Hornets’ 32 turnovers.
“Our point guards have to be better than they, and they will be,” he said. “I think they’ll learn from tonight and it will make them better players.”
Henryville hosts 1-1 Silver Creek on Saturday. New Washington goes to Charlestown on Wednesday to face the 1-1 Pirates.
NEW WASHINGTON 20 7 17 18—62
HENRYVILLE 9 7 3 11—30
New Washington — Doherty 6, Mudd 11, Sarver 5, Johnson 14, Walker 6, Beard 5, Frankin 9.
Henryville — Knox 13, Taylor 9, Gilstrap 2, Harbold 2, Dickerson 2, Atkins 2.
3-point field goals — New Washington 0, Henryville 1 (Knox).
Records — New Washington 2-1, 1-0 Southern Athletic Conference; Henryville 3-2, 0-1.
