Neighboring rivals Grainger and Jefferson County staged the best duel of the day, with the Grizzlies turning back a late rally by the Patriots to take a 53-40 victory and improve to 12-1 on the year.
Grainger trailed 12-11 after one period but used a 16-4 run in the second period to take command. They led 27-16 at intermission and maintained that 11-point spread after three. The Grizz went up by 14 early in the fourth, but a late run by the Pats cut the gap to 43-38 with 2:40 left in the game before Grainger recovered and went on to victory.
Sydnie Hayes knocked down 15 points to lead Grainger and also grabbed eight rebounds. Alia Maloney scored 11 and Maddie Hurst added 10 for the victors.
Kali McMahan, a Carson-Newman signee, led the Patriots (7-9) with 15 points.
GRAINGER (53): Stratton 2-5 2-2 6, Tanner 2-2 0-0 5, Rutherford 1-5 1-4 3, Maloney 4-7 3-3 11, Hurst 2-10 6-8 10, Hayes 5-13 3-4 15, M.Hurst 1-3 0-0 3. TOTALS: 17-46 15-21 53.
JEFFERSON (40): Satterfield 2-4 0-0 6 Denton 1-5 5-7 8, Scales 2-4 1-2 5, Bolin 0-1 0-0 0, Alvey 2-7 2-3 6, McMahan 6-11 2-4 15, Loveday 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-33 10-16 40.
3-Point Goals: GHS—4 (Hayes 2, Tanner, M.Hurst). JC—4 (Satterfield 2, Denton, McMahan).
GRAINGER 11 16 12 14—53
JEFFERSON 12 4 12 12—40
