Lady Bears hammer Henry County

MT. JULIET — A strong presence in the paint and some pressure defense propelled the Lady Bears to a 70-42 victory over Henry County in the quarterfinals of Region 5-AAA Friday at Tommy Martin Gym/The Cave.
Mt. Juliet advanced to the semifinals at Beech where the Lady Bears will face Northeast, a 71-62 winner over Beech, at 7:45 p.m. Monday.
Jordan Nixon and K.C. VanAtta led a 10-0 Mt. Juliet run to begin the first quarter. Amanda Belew put the Lady Patriots on the board with 2:04 remaining. The quarter came to a close with the Lady Bears ahead 15-4.
Macie Gleaves drained a three-pointer just before the half time buzzer to give Mt. Juliet a 32-23 advantage.
"I thought Macie hit a good shot at the half to put us back up by nine," Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer said after his team improved to 27-3 for the season and won for the 64th straight time in Martin Gym.
Fouls were a concern for the Lady Bears in the first half as aggressive play resulted in several whistles.
"I was worried the first half because we got into some foul trouble," Fryer said. "We had three girls with three fouls."
The second half saw a return to form as the post play of VanAtta and Heather Miller dominated a smaller Henry County squad. The tandem combined for 39 points. The defense also stepped up beginning in the third quarter.
"The third and fourth quarter we played really well, our man defense and halfcourt defense was good," Fryer added.
At the close of the third, the margin stood at 50-32.
Miller led all scorers with 20 points for Mt. Juliet. VanAtta tossed in 19 points, Nixon added 11, Gleaves six, Rebecca Sharpe and Chelsea Brown five apiece, Corley Bell a 3-pointer and Katie Bryan a free throw.
"It's always good in a region game to get a chance to play everybody," said Fryer.
Katelyn Wilson knocked in 15 points to lead the Lady Patriots.
Mt. Juliet's boys will open their region tournament at 7 p.m. tonight at Springfield.
Staff Writer Kimberly Jordan can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 44 or by email at kimberly.jordan@lebanondemocrat.com.