The Mount Airy Lady Bears made their 2021 home debut by hosting 4A Ronald Reagan High in a girls-only night.
Reagan took the lead early in the second quarter and stayed on top through the third. The Bears trailed by as many as 14 at one point before mounting a comeback in the fourth.
Despite working back within a handful of the visiting Raiders, the Lady Bears’ rally came up short as late free throws carried Reagan to a 55-46 victory.
Reagan’s bigs forced the Bears to settle for jumpers early on. Sophomore Grey Moore, who led the Bears with 11 points and eight rebounds, knocked down a pair of triples in the first quarter to give the home team the advantage.
Sofia Stafford converted a triple late in the first, and Addie Phipps, who also recorded 11 points, added three field goals in the quarter to even the score at 15-15 after eight minutes of action.
Reagan’s combination of speedy guards and rebounding forwards to clean up any misses proved too much for the sharp-shooting Bears (0-1). The Raiders were led by a pair of seniors: point guard Adrianna Gullette and power forward Eleanor Saunders.
Saunders was all over the offensive glass for Reagan. She recorded a double-double with 12 points and 16 boards.
The biggest thorn in the Bears side was Gullette. The spark plug wasn’t close to being the largest player on the court, but she used her speed to attack the basket and draw contact. She attempted 16 free throws in the game and hit 10.
Gullette had a hand in more than half of Reagan’s 55 points. She led the team with 22 points and five assists. Gullette also added four rebounds and three steals.
Mount Airy’s biggest deficit of the night came after Saunders scored inside at the onset of the second half. Down 35-21, the Bears would hold Reagan without a field goal nearly six minutes in the third quarter.
Stafford scored in response to Saunders to close the gap to 13. It was only 25 seconds later that Phipps converted a layup in transition thanks to a defensive rebound and outlet pass from Tessa Stovall. Phipps paid her teammate back on the next possession as a field goal from Stovall made it 35-28.
Gullette hit one-of-two from the line at the 4:30 mark, but then Kylie Hollingsworth responded with a quick two points.
The Bears cut the lead to five at 38-33 before Reagan went on a 7-2 run to close the quarter.
The Raiders were held to just six field goals in the second half, with only two in the fourth quarter. Mount Airy outscored Reagan 25-23 over the last two quarters but it wasn’t enough. Shots weren’t falling late in the game for the Bears.
Reagan’s last made field goal came with 6:00 left in the game. Instead of the aggressive style of play from the first two quarters, Reagan opted to run time off the clock. The Raiders scored its last seven points of the game from the foul line.
Mount Airy’s only field goals in the fourth quarter came on a Stovall layup early on, a Moore 3-pointer with 1:59 remaining and a layup from Morgan Mayfield with 24.9 left on the clock.
Moore and Phipps led the Bears with 11 points each, followed by Stovall with 10, Stafford and Mayfield with five and Hollingsworth with four.
Mount Airy travels to North Davidson on Wednesday.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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