Week ending Dec. 21

Tillie, Price lead Lady Rebels, Rebels to wins at Alcoa

Dalton Price gets to the basket against Austin-East.

Maryville’s Kayla Tillie and Dalton Price both led their teams to wins at rival Alcoa on Friday to earn selection as the Barley’s/Blount Press Row Players of the Week. Just how they got the Lady Rebels and Rebels to those wins could hardly have been more different.

Tillie stepped it up over the final three quarters as Maryville broke open a close game early for a 57-39 win. The Lady Rebels (8-1) led 17-16 with a minute to play in the first quarter when a defensive shift had a telling effect on the Lady Tornadoes. Tillie then led an offensive push that put it away, the senior point guard and reigning District 4AAA Player of the Year finishing with a game-high 20 points.

Price put the finishing touches on a thriller.

Kayla Tillie gets to the basket for two of her game-high 20 points.

The Rebel guard was steady throughout, bombing home four 3-pointers and 14 points overall in a heart-stopping 55-53 Maryville win. Price’s last two could hardly have been bigger. The Tornadoes sank eight fourth-quarter 3s en route to erasing a 15-point Rebel lead and send the game into the final minute tied at 53-all. Price got the basket in traffic for the go-ahead points with 28 seconds left.

Maryville withstood four Alcoa looks at it from point-blank range in the final 12 seconds.