By STEPHEN MONAHAN
Register Staff Writer
The NCTC Holiday Classic has been a huge stepping stone for the Gainesville Lady Leopards.
After falling in close games to Callisburg and S&S; earlier in the week, the Lady Leopards looked to their matchup against the Forestburg Lady Horns in the seventh-place game in hopes of ending their losing streak.
For first-year coach Vance Stembers and the Lady Leopards, they can take the next step in the season after defeating the Lady Horns 50-22 on Wednesday, ending their 36-game skid.
“They’re continuing to move forward and as a coach that’s what you’re looking for is them to make those strides, start making some reads,” coach Stembers said. “In this particular tournament, we started making some good basketball reads and then started having confidence in each other. I think when we look back at the end of the year, this tournament going to be that place where we made a big step forward not only on the floor, but with the chemistry of our team.”
Now the next hurdle for Gainesville (1-13) is to put together a winning streak.
Coach Stembers said in order to that, his players need to continue to perform well in practice and come prepared for their next contest.
“Just like I told them after the game,” he said, “‘there’s going to be times when you come up and your just not going to have the ability to win, but you’ve got to prepare so that when you come up against an opponent you can beat (you will be ready).’ That’s what they’ve done all year. They’ve had some good practices. I think that shows strong character and is something that’s going to energize them.”
Gainesville had two players in double digits — Megan Gonzales with 13 points, a game-high and Skye Lynn Ferch, who finished with 12.
The Lady Leopards scored often and quickly in the first quarter against Forestburg, taking an early 15-7 lead. The Lady Leopards then piled on 16 points in the second half for a 31-13 lead heading into the half. While Gainesville scored just 6 points in the third quarter, a 13-2 run in the final frame helped put the game on ice.
For Gainesville, Destini Flowers and JaLisa Moore each finished with 7 points while Charisma Tell added 6, Yolanda Del Rio scored 4 and Annette Kirk finished with 1.
For Forestburg, its leading scorer for the tournament has been Monica Huddleston, but the Lady Leopards held her in check with just 9 points. Emily Jones also scored 9 points for the Lady Horns while Bailey Cody and Bailey Whatley each scored 2.
Gainesville 15 16 6 13 — 50
Forestburg 7 6 7 2 — 22
The S&S; Lady Rams took home the consolation championship Wednesday after defeating the Collinsville Lady Pirates 52-27.
S&S; took an 11-4 lead after the first quarter but only led 18-17 at halftime. S&S; exploded for 20 third-quarter and 14 fourth-quarter points while holding Collinsville to just 10 points in the second half.
Leading the way for S&S; were Alex Boren wth 19 points and Rachel Curry with 11. Sam Bandemir and Rochelle Adcock each added 5 points, Kaitie Hudson and Miranda Robbins each scored 4 and Haley Roberts finished with 2.
As for Collinsville, Chelsea Petska led the team with 7 points, Brooke Swindle had 6, Karli Koerner added 4 and Candace Marlin, Sabrina Attaway, Courney Harville, Ashley Snow and Hailay Harris each chipped in 2.
S&S; 11 7 20 14 — 52
Collinsville 4 13 5 6 — 27
