Lady Eagles Get First District Win

By: Lee Ramsey
lee@seymourherald.com
The Seymour lady Eagle basketball team took their first step toward a regular season IMAC championship as they defeated visiting Cherokee by a score of 51-37. The win makes Seymour 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the district.
The atmosphere was great as the Seymour pep band was there for the first time which really adds to the excitement. They did a great job getting the crowd into the game.
The Lady Eagles just came off a very tough Thanksgiving Tournament in Maryville where they defeated Heritage and Maryville. Seymour lost at home to Cosby earlier in the week but coach Brandi Stallings said the girls responded very well bouncing back from the loss.
“The girls responded this week in practice,” said Stallings. “Tonight they came out and executed the game plan very well. They played hard the entire game and had fun too.”
The Lady Eagle coach also talked about her pre game concerns over some matchup problems.
“They’re loaded with size therefore it wasn’t really a good match up for us,” said Stallings. “They’re big and pound it inside. They’re very physical.
“They stay straight up so they don’t get many fouls and they lead the IMAC in blocked shots.”
One answer to the inside matchup problems was Mariah Flynn. The sophomore standout post player poured in 22 points. “Mariah Flynn stepped up and did an awesome job for us inside. She gave us the inside presence that we desperately need,” said Coach Stallings.
“From the start Coach (Stallings) told us we needed to control the boards and their posts so we tried hard to box out,” said Flynn. “That was the key pretty much. Coach had a great game plan where we double team their posts. It worked really well.”
Seymour started fast out of the gate and Flynn was a major player in that performance as she scored 8 points in the first quarter to complement 3 pointers scored by Jordan Ballard and Brittany Seagle. The Lady Eagles led 21-8 at the first break.
After the early lead, Seymour and Cherokee swapped blows evenly the second half and the score stood 28-15 at the half.
The second half was pretty much more of the same except for Cherokee’s late surge which didn’t change the outcome of the game.
“I’m so proud of them. It’s a great feeling being 1-0 in the IMAC right now but it’s going to be a very tough league this year,” said Stallings.
After Flynn’s game high 22, the other top scorers were Seagle with 13 and Ballard with 11.
The Seymour boys didn’t fare as well as they lost their contest 63-58. It was a hard fought game as the Eagles never quit and almost took the lead on several occasions.
Seymour’s standout D. J. Griffin got in early foul trouble which helped give the Cherokees a double digit lead.
Next the Seymour roundballers travel to face Morristown West.