BENTON, Tenn. — McMinn Central girls' basketball coach Johnny Morgan can feel good about the quality depth of his Chargerettes squad. That and their ability to fight through adversity make him feel pretty good about their chances to make a deep postseason run.
At the same time, the Chargerettes' defensive deficiencies and their lack of court awareness at times Tuesday night remind him that they still have a way to go.
McMinn Central had 15 offensive rebounds and Elizabeth Masengil led three double-figure scorers with 14 points in a 59-43 District 5-AA victory at rival Polk County.
Morgan had been pleased with his team's defense during the season but wasn't pleased with it Tuesday, despite the win.
"I didn't think there were any problems on that end until tonight," he said. "The only thing that it might be is that maybe they're concerned about their teammates."
The Chargerettes have lost forward Ashley Knox to an ACL injury, and Kelsey Young is out with meningitis. Tuesday's game didn't help in that regard, either, as junior guard Nikita Raper went down with what also could be an ACL tear with 2:33 to go in the third quarter.
"The injuries to Ashley and Nikita are one thing, but Kelsey's situation is different for them," Morgan said. "They're not handling that well. I think they're thinking, 'Do I have it, too?'"
McMinn Central (14-1, 3-0) never was really threatened on the scoreboard but never fully seized control against the scrappy Wildkittens. Senior post Jenna Adams played only half the game due to foul trouble, but Masengil and freshman Alisa Guradiola picked up the slack in her absence, combining for 16 points as the Chargerettes held a 29-17 lead at halftime.
"We're going to play who we've got," Morgan said. "In summer camps these girls get the same amount of playing time. I know it's a little different now, but they don't see it as getting experience. Alisa gets to start tonight, and she scores double figures and looks confident; Sidni Williams doesn't even play varsity last year.
"They always play hard but not always so smart. I can expect that from them, but not from some of the others."
Polk trimmed the lead to 35-29, led by Maclain Yowarsky, who had seven of her game-high 21 points in an early third-quarter run, but McMinn Central stretched the lead back to 12 points by the end of the period and led by as much as 18 in the final period of play.
"One of the good things is that as bad as we were, we earned a district win," Morgan said. "I don't think we can play worse than we did tonight."
Adams had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for McMinn Central, while Guradiola added 10 points. Haley Richmond had 11 points and six rebounds for Polk (12-3, 2-1).
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