Block tops Monterey girls, 43-27

Published 12:02 am Wednesday, December 18, 2013

JONESVILLE — The Monterey Lady Wolves had no answer for Block High School’s duo Quinneshia and Tineshia Branch, who combined to score 30 points in the Lady Bears’ 43-27 win Tuesday night.

Quinneshia Branch led all players with 17 points and Tineshia Branch finished with 13 points. But it wasn’t just those two players’ offensive output that Block head coach Veronica Savage said was the key to the team’s win.

“We’re just playing together. We’re just working hard at it,” Savage said. “My second team came off the bench and doing a great job.”

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Block also did a good job in what Savage calls a man-to-man denial defense. The Lady Bears basically made sure that neither Karlee Woodruff nor Jody Duncan, two of Monterey’s leading scorers, were going to beat them. And it paid off. Woodruff was held to just two points and Duncan had just four points. Morgan Pecanty led the Lady Wolves with six points.

The Lady Bears jumped out to an 11-6 lead after one quarter of play and led the Lady Wolves 17-11 at halftime. Block put the game way by outscoring Monterey 13-6 in the third quarter for a commanding 30-17 lead.

“It’s more of a run game. We try to deny the opposing team whether it be on offense or defense,” Savage said.

Block (7-4) next plays at 3:30 p.m. Friday against Marksville at the Jena Tournament. Monterey (9-7) next plays at 6 p.m. Thursday at home against LaSalle.

Franklin Parish 80, Ferriday 74

WINNSBORO, La. — Franklin Parish was able to wear down Ferriday in the second half and that proved to be the determining factor as the Lady Patriots defeated the Lady Trojans 80-74 Tuesday night.

Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron noted that in the third quarter, her team lost some of its focus on both defense and rebounding. She also said the Lady Trojans turned the ball over too many times in that quarter.

“We let our tiredness get the best of us. Ultimately, it cost us the game,” Abron said. “We maintained and got back in it at one point (late in the third quarter). In the fourth quarter, we got fatigued.”

Led by the trio of Jada Griggs, ShaKeria Kelly and Trenace Morgan, Ferriday got off to a good start and led Franklin Parish 21-18 at the end of the first quarter. However, the Lady Patriots responded with a 20-15 advantage in the second quarter and they would take a 38-36 lead into halftime. Griggs led the Lady Trojans with 21 points while Kelly had 19 points and Morgan added 18 points.

“In the first half, it was pretty much even. We were trading baskets with them,” Abron said.

Even though Ferriday tried to get back in the game in the latter stages of the third quarter, it wasn’t able to get over the hump and trailed Franklin Parish 56-53 at the end of the quarter. The Lady Patriots kept Ferriday at arms length in the fourth quarter and outscored the Lady Trojans 24-21.

“I’m kind of frustrated that we keep losing. But it’s slowly coming together,” Abron said. Ferriday (1-7) hosts Sicily Island at 6 p.m. Friday.