Prep girls basketball: Lexi Hope tallies game-high 20 points to lift S-C past Versailles

After struggling in their own gym over the last couple of weeks, the Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers put together a solid performance on Tuesday night and knocked off the Versailles Lady Tigers 66-52.

“It feels good,” said Smith-Cotton coach Chris Parsons about winning at home. “Lately we haven’t been playing well, and I thought we came out tonight finally clicking through our offenses, getting some good looks and knocking down some shots.”

Smith-Cotton (11-8) played consistently on offense from the start, using the dribble to get to the basket and drilling long-distance shots. Lexi Hope, who led all scorers with 20 points, nailed a 3-pointer at the close of the first quarter to stake Smith-Cotton to a 13-11 lead.

Versailles battled shot for shot, tying the game at 18 midway through the second quarter before Smith-Cotton used a 9-0 run to pull away before halftime. Mallory Hamilton capped the run with two straight baskets to put Smith-Cotton in front 27-18.

Smith-Cotton hit six 3-pointers in the opening half, the final trey coming from Hope just before the buzzer to put her team up 30-22 at the break.

That lead continued to grow as the second half began, due in part to Smith-Cotton’s full-court pressure that caused Versailles to rush its offense. After a steal and layup by Jack Greer, the S-C advantage stood at 36-23.

Versailles answered by pounding the ball inside to Chelsea Merriott, Sara Samson and Kayla Vansell. That inside scoring, highlighted by a steal and layup by Samson, cut the Smith-Cotton lead to 37-33 at the midway point of the third quarter.

Parsons knows his team has struggled at times to defend the post.

“Obviously defensively that’s one of our weaknesses, being able to match up with bigs inside,” he said. “We like to think we can, but our backside help’s been kind of weak lately. That gives us something to work on because we know we’re going to see some big girls coming up, especially when we get to district time. We know we’re going to see some in conference time rolling down to the finish.”

With Versailles clawing its way back into the game, Smith-Cotton countered with Hope. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws, her own personal 8-point run, and Smith-Cotton’s four-point lead grew back to 12.

Smith-Cotton also got a big quarter from Greer as she tallied seven of her 18 points. She grabbed rebounds, snagged steals and drove hard to the basket to keep the Smith-Cotton rolling.

“She’s kind of that spark,” said Parsons of Greer. “You always hear that defense turns into offense, and she’s the one that kind of lives by that motto. She’s 100 percent after it all of the time. She’s battled through injury and she continues to battle through injury. She was a big key to tonight’s win also.”

Leading 49-37 entering the fourth quarter, Smith-Cotton committed two quick turnovers against the Versailles press and saw the lead shrink to eight.

“You’ve got to give it to Versailles. They popped back, knocked down some shots, never would let us run away with it,” said Parsons.

That would be as close as Versailles would get down the stretch, however. Smith-Cotton got defensive stops, ran its offense patiently and converted from the free-throw line to finish off the win.

Elena Sharp contributed 12 points to the Smith-Cotton attack, and Hamilton added nine.

Versailles got 13 points from Merriott and 12 from Akrista Greer.