Gallery by Greg Barnett
Athens – Trips to Athens have yielded little success for No. 3-ranked Glenville State over the last two seasons with Concord coming away with wins in both contests played at the Carter Center.
The tide turned Saturday.
Forcing 24 turnovers, the Lady Pioneers improved to 16-0 (11-0 MEC), beating Concord 105-67 Saturday afternoon in Athens.
In a game of runs the host Mountain Lions hung tough, staying within striking distance but a third-quarter Glenville run, powered primarily by turnovers, blew the game open.
Trailing by double digits early in the third, a 3-pointer from CU’s Jazz Blankenship brought the hosts closer at 46-37. Another 3-point attempt from Blankenship on the following possession was off the mark, opening the floodgates. Three turnovers fueled a 10-0 Glenville run, putting the Mountain Lions in hole they couldn’t recover from.
“When you play Glenville it’s a game of runs,” Concord coach Kenny Osborne said. “The last two times we beat them down here we’ve minimized theirs and maximized ours. We just didn’t hit shots. That helps slow them down when you can hit shots. We didn’t hit shots, we were indecisive offensively and when they went on that 10-0 run we either turned it over and got our pocket picked or it was a miss and there go the Pioneers. That’s what they look at.”
It wasn’t the first run the Pioneers rode, but the one that ultimately made the difference.
Leading 7-5, the hosts yielded a 13-0 run to Glenville, trailing 25-16 after the first. The Mountain Lions were able to contain them in the second, limiting Glenville to 32 percent shooting from the floor but were unable to take advantage. While converting on 53 percent of their own shots in the quarter, the Mountain Lions were out-shot 25-13 and trailed 44-32 at the break.
A quick five points from Concord cut the deficit back to nine before the Pioneers’ 10-0 run sealed the coffin. It was indicative of how the contest materialized with the visitors scoring 27 points off of turnovers.
“Sometimes we just hung passes out to dry,” Osborne said. “Our kids won’t deny but (Glenville) goes out and does. They’re hungry for the ball and we’re not. We got picked there twice in the third quarter and the floodgates just opened.”
The hosts were outscored by 13 in each of the final two quarters as the Pioneers halted CU’s two-game winning streak against the Glenville in Athens.
Glenville’s Zakiyah Winfield led all scorers with 20 points. Maddie Ratcliff led CU with 15 while Riley Fitzwater added 14.
Concord drops to 12-6 (7-5 MEC) and will host Notre Dame on Wednesday.
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GSC: 25 19 35 26 – 105
CU: 16 16 22 13 – 67
Glenville St.
Zakiyah Winfield 20, Dazha Congleton 2, Re.Shawna Stone 6, Vendetta Danielsson 16, Abby Stellar 15, Kaylee Pierce 4, Taychaun Hubbard 8, Skylar Davidson 1, Mashayla Cecil 14, Tyesha Taylor 7, Aline Fevrier 7, Makyla Pierce 3, Alexis Maynard 2
Concord
Riley Fitzwater 14, Maddie Ratcliff 15, Maggie Guynn 4, Jazz Blankenship 8, Gracie Robinson 4, Alexis Phillips 9, Jaisah Smith 4, Ashton Funderburg 7, Kacie Shaffner 2
3-point goals – GSC: 12 (Winfield 1, Danielsson 3, Stoller 1, Cecil 4, Taylor 2, Pierce 1); CU: 4 (Ratcliff 2, Blankenship 2)
