Lady Hornets sting Northeast Vernon County in Appleton City Tournament semifinals

In a matchup of two of the top teams from the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference, the Hume Lady Hornets toppled the Northeast Vernon County Lady Knights, 49-34 in the semifinals of the Appleton City Tournament on Friday.

The top-seeded Lady Hornets trailed No. 4 NEVC 10-8 at the conclusion of the first quarter, before Hume went in front 22-18 at the break. The Lady Knights then trimmed the deficit to 30-28 after outscoring Hume 10-8 in the third.

Hume, however, put the pedal to the metal in the fourth, closing out the contest on an extended 19-6 run en route to the 15-point victory.

The tourney win improves Hume to 10-2 overall, while NEVC moves to 9-5.

Hume was led by junior forward Hannah Gorda, with a team-high 12 points, and senior point guard Karlee Metcalf, who chipped in 11.

“It was hard for both teams to get into flow,” said Hume head coach, Heath Heckadon. “The officials controlled the game all night. The girls finally woke up in the fourth to pull away. It was a great win for us.”

Friday night’s triumph advanced the Lady Hornets to the tournament championship game, in a matchup with county rival — third-seeded Rich Hill. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. tonight.

For NEVC, junior wing forward Makinsey Conner finished with a team-high 17 points and 8 rebounds.

“We were just not mentally tough tonight,” explained NEVC head coach, Jenny Allard. “We allowed their aggressiveness to affect how we played. We hurried too much offensively and took poor shots, turned the ball over, and gave up too many offensive rebounds.”

Added Allard: “Instead of embracing the physical nature of the manner in which the game was being called, and getting the ball in the low post where we could absorb some of that contact and still take good shots, and ultimately put more pressure on their defense — we shied away from contact and took too many long, ill-advised shots. If we want to compete with the upper-level teams in our area, we have to master the mental aspects of the game as well.”

In opening round action at the Appleton City Tournament on Tuesday, the Lady Knights toppled the fifth-seeded Chilhowee Lady Indians, 54-39.

NEVC led 15-11 at the conclusion of the first quarter, and 26-16 at halftime. The Lady Knights then outscored Chilhowee 16-9 in the third quarter, en route to the 15-point victory.

NEVC was led by Conner, as the junior forward finished with a game-high 20 points, while Lydia Longstreth added 15.

“The girls played really well tonight,” said Allard. “We were a little sluggish at the beginning of the game, but played our way into a more up-tempo game with our defense.”

See a future edition of the Nevada Daily Mail for all the latest on Hume and NEVC basketball