Round 1

Alcoa takes first meeting with defending champs

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Halle Bailey, Harper Stinnett, Brylee Flatt, Kadie Bremer …

When it comes to beating fullcourt pressure, Alcoa has the guards for the job for days. It’s the way bigs Maddie Stewart and Gwen Carroll run floor and finish at the basket that really makes it work.

The Lady Tornadoes met defending state champion Heritage for the first time this season on Friday. Fireworks were expected and delivered, the aforementioned press break and solid free-throw shooting pulling Alcoa clear late in a 67-55 win at Herman Thompson Gymnasium.

“I don’t think we were ready (early) for their physicalness,” Alcoa coach David Baumann said. “They’re state champs for a reason. They’re well-coached and tough girls. I thought in the first half, they were tougher than us.

“At halftime, we didn’t talk any Xs and Os. We talked about, ‘Are we tough enough to rebound with them? Do we have the heart to rebound?

“‘We’re going to fight back.'”

Stinnett paced three Lady Tornadoes into double figures with a team-best 15 points. The freshman sensation and daughter of Alcoa great and former University of Alabama guard Travis Stinnett also finished with eight rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.

After a head-turning run through the youth and middle school levels, Stinnett, who sat much of the first half Friday with foul trouble, looked right at home stepping into one of the area’s most heated rivalries. She credits her Mr. Basketball finalist dad and her mom, former Maryville All-State tennis player Sarah Overholt Stinnett, with much of that.

“My mom gets onto me, too,” she said. “They just say play my game and don’t worry about anyone else.”

On a balanced night, the Lady Tornadoes also got 10 apiece from Carroll and Stewart, with Bailey, Bremer and Jacy Cox dropping eight each. Bailey ran the point with six assists, Stewart pulling off six boards.

“At halftime, coach Baumann got on to us for not being physical,” Stewart said. “So we had to come out and show that we can be physical and playing (Thursday) doesn’t matter.”

Alcoa would need it all with Lexi Tipton pouring in a game-high 21 for the Lady Mountaineers, including a robust 18 of them in the first half. Sharpshooter Katie Graves pumped in 10 for Heritage, fellow junior Kenley Coker nine, Ivy Brewster seven.

It wasn’t enough to offset the loss of senior and team leader Aleyah Smith for the season to a knee injury over the Christmas holidays, but check back, Heritage coach Rick Howard said.

“I really thought Lexi Tipton stepped up tonight,” he said. “She had 18 in the first half.

“(The Lady Mountaineers) are learning. Kenley, Faith (Morris) and Katie, they’re going to have to step it up again. They’re going to have to play like they did down at the state tournament.”

An über competitive first two quarters saw Heritage hold an 30-28 lead at the half. Alcoa worked its way to a 48-42 advantage after three quarters, threes from Bremer and Cox igniting a 20-12 Lady Tornado run in the frame.

“That was the flow of the game,” Carroll said. “We were getting those open looks toward the end. The girls were getting me the ball. We were sharing it and playing well.”

Forced to foul in the fourth when its fullcourt pressure didn’t produce the needed turnovers, Heritage sent Bailey and Stinnett to the line to win it for Alcoa, the duo making good on seven of 10 free throws to put it away with just under a minute remaining.

Round 2 is scheduled for Jan. 27 at Heritage.