Maryville Heritage's Mikayla Hutsell (2) jumps to block a pass from GPS's Jameshia Dunegan (12) in first half action Monday in the EPB Fiber Optic Holiday Tournament at Hixson High School.It was not difficult to find a turning point Monday in the girls' championship game in the EPB Fiber Optic high school basketball tournament at Hixson. The game turned when Akia Harris's ankle did.
Maryville Heritage went from facing a near-double-digit deficit in the first quarter when Harris went down. And although she managed to return in the second half, it was too late to prevent the Lady Mountaineers from rolling to a 78-57 victory over Girls Preparatory School.
The injury to Harris occurred in the first quarter, which ended with Heritage leading 20-18. She sat the entire second quarter with her leg iced and propped on a chair, and by halftime the Lady Mountaineers had pushed their lead to 47-32.
"We got a little momentum going," Heritage coach Rick Howard said. "We've not been a very good first-quarter team for some reason. But we were able to get some things going and we made it difficult for them by the time she got back."
Harris returned in the third quarter but was not at full speed. The lead grew to 66-43 heading to the fourth, and GPS coach Jennifer Williams decided not to risk any further injury and pulled her from the game.
"We've got to learn to play without her," Williams said of Harris, who scored seven of her 10 points before the injury.
Brooke McCury led GPS (9-4) with 18 points, including four 3-point goals, and Kare Ware added 11.
"I thought our defense was great at times," Howard said, "the second half especially. I thought we executed our offense really, really good."
Leah Thomas made seven 3-point shots and paced the Lady Mountaineers with 23 points. Kassi Knight contributed 19 and Maddie Sutton chipped in with 15.
"We've got to work on our defense," Williams said. "Our defense was terrible. Man-to-man, zone, box-and-one, it didn't matter. They're a great team and they took advantage of everything we didn't do well."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.