Alcoa’s Lady Tornadoes held off a gutsy effort by Gaffney High of South Carolina for an exciting 71-65 win Monday morning.
Gaffney trailed the vast majority of the first half and was down 40-31 at intermission, but came out in the second half with a renewed spirit and managed to hang around in the third, finally taking the lead late in the period. The rest of the game was a dogfight.
But Alcoa (11-3) was able to recover down the stretch. With 2:38 left in the contest, the Indians were up 65-62. Alcoa then went on a 9-0 run to the horn to take the 71-65 win.
Alcoa was led by freshman Harper Stinnett with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Gwen Carroll scored 18.
Gaffney was paced by Shiriah Harris, a Gardner-Webb signee, with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Tianah Hopper scored 14, had seven rebounds, four steals, and blocked seven shots, two short of the tournament record.
Gaffney (65): Lauren Mathis 4-7 3-4 13, Shiriah Harris 10-19 4-6 24, Tianah Hopper 6-10, 0-2 14, Smith 2-6 0-0 6, Houze 2-9 104 5, Otey 0-1 0-0 0, Church 1-1 0-2 2, Easterling 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26-53 8-18 65.
Alcoa (71): Bailey 3-7 3-3 9, Bremer 1-4 3-3 5, Flatt 2-10 0-0 5, Gwen Carroll 8-12 2-2 18, Maddy Stewart 2-6 0-0 4, Garner 0-2 0-0 0, Harper Stinnett 9-15 2-2 24, Cox 2-3 0-0 6, Dean 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 27-59 10-10 71.
3-Point Goals: GHS—7 (Mathis 3, Hopper 2, Smith 2). AHS—7 (Stinnett 4, Cox 2, Flatt).
Score by quarters:
Gaffney 17 14 23 11–65
Alcoa 28 12 15 16–71
