Skyline tie Woodville for area lead
By Jason BowenThe Daily Sentinel
Published January 15, 2009The Skyline girls basketball team’s ugliest offensive performance of the season turned pretty at just the right time.Despite a woeful shooting night compounded by 14 turnovers, Skyline rallied for a 30-25 victory over archrival Woodville Tuesday night at WHS.Skyline’s win tied the teams atop the Class 1A Area 14 standings with identical 8-1 area records. Both teams play their area finales Friday night — Skyline is at PRV and Woodville hosts Whitesburg Christian for Homecoming — and both are heavy favorites in those games, meaning a coin toss will likely be needed to determine which team will host next month’s area tournament.Woodville was eight minutes from clinching the area title outright. The Panthers (8-12) led 18-14 entering the fourth quarter before a lengthy scoring drought aided Skyline’s rally.“Yeah it was a heartbreaker,” said Woodville coach Joey Swinford. Woodville had the pace of the game right where it wanted for three quarters. Skyline (13-9) shot just 1-for-18 in the first half but Woodville’s own offensive troubles — the Panthers made just 11 shots in the game and were 1 of 7 from the free throw line — saw the Vikings, who were 8 of 12 at the free throw line over the first two periods trailing just 12-10 at intermission. Skyline’s shooting didn’t get any better in the third, as the Vikings made just 1 of 10 attempts to finish 2 of 28 over the first three quarters.“You keep missing in the first quarter and you think they’ll start falling in the second quarter. Then you keep missing in the second and third quarter, and you start to wonder if anything will ever fall,” said Skyline coach Ray Swinford.Things began to turn, however, thanks to a defensive switch by the Vikings. Skyline was able to force a faster tempo after switching to a full-court man-to-man defense late in the third.“That completely changed the game,” Joey Swinford said. “Sometimes we want to play a faster pace against some teams, and against some teams we want to play at a slower pace. Skyline’s not one we want to play at that (fast) pace. They thrive off that fast pace style.”Woodville, which defeated Skyline 46-43 on Dec. 2, took a 19-14 lead with 7:15 remaining. The Panthers then went scoreless for the next 4:17. In the meantime, Skyline went on an 11-0 run that ultimately lead it to victory. Katelin Alley started the run with a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play, and two Lily Sutton free throws tied the game at 19-all at the 5:01 mark. Alley got a steal on Woodville’s ensuing possession and found Haley Parker for a layup and a 21-19 Skyline lead 16 seconds later.The Vikings eventually led 30-21 before Woodville scored the game’s final four points.“I told the girls not to focus on the situation, just go play our game and see what happens,” Ray Swinford said. “They did a good job of forcing the tempo.”Parker scored seven of her team-high nine points in the fourth quarter. Maggie Warren added seven points and 10 rebounds, while Sutton had seven points and Alley fiveAshley Skelton had nine points for Woodville, while Sandra Osburn had five and Emily Huston added four.Skyline made 5 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter to finish 7 of 42 (17 percent) for the game. The Vikings made up the difference at the foul line, going 13 for 23. “If we could only have just kept them off the line,” Joey Swinford said.
By Jason BowenThe Daily Sentinel
Published January 15, 2009The Skyline girls basketball team’s ugliest offensive performance of the season turned pretty at just the right time.Despite a woeful shooting night compounded by 14 turnovers, Skyline rallied for a 30-25 victory over archrival Woodville Tuesday night at WHS.Skyline’s win tied the teams atop the Class 1A Area 14 standings with identical 8-1 area records. Both teams play their area finales Friday night — Skyline is at PRV and Woodville hosts Whitesburg Christian for Homecoming — and both are heavy favorites in those games, meaning a coin toss will likely be needed to determine which team will host next month’s area tournament.Woodville was eight minutes from clinching the area title outright. The Panthers (8-12) led 18-14 entering the fourth quarter before a lengthy scoring drought aided Skyline’s rally.“Yeah it was a heartbreaker,” said Woodville coach Joey Swinford. Woodville had the pace of the game right where it wanted for three quarters. Skyline (13-9) shot just 1-for-18 in the first half but Woodville’s own offensive troubles — the Panthers made just 11 shots in the game and were 1 of 7 from the free throw line — saw the Vikings, who were 8 of 12 at the free throw line over the first two periods trailing just 12-10 at intermission. Skyline’s shooting didn’t get any better in the third, as the Vikings made just 1 of 10 attempts to finish 2 of 28 over the first three quarters.“You keep missing in the first quarter and you think they’ll start falling in the second quarter. Then you keep missing in the second and third quarter, and you start to wonder if anything will ever fall,” said Skyline coach Ray Swinford.Things began to turn, however, thanks to a defensive switch by the Vikings. Skyline was able to force a faster tempo after switching to a full-court man-to-man defense late in the third.“That completely changed the game,” Joey Swinford said. “Sometimes we want to play a faster pace against some teams, and against some teams we want to play at a slower pace. Skyline’s not one we want to play at that (fast) pace. They thrive off that fast pace style.”Woodville, which defeated Skyline 46-43 on Dec. 2, took a 19-14 lead with 7:15 remaining. The Panthers then went scoreless for the next 4:17. In the meantime, Skyline went on an 11-0 run that ultimately lead it to victory. Katelin Alley started the run with a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play, and two Lily Sutton free throws tied the game at 19-all at the 5:01 mark. Alley got a steal on Woodville’s ensuing possession and found Haley Parker for a layup and a 21-19 Skyline lead 16 seconds later.The Vikings eventually led 30-21 before Woodville scored the game’s final four points.“I told the girls not to focus on the situation, just go play our game and see what happens,” Ray Swinford said. “They did a good job of forcing the tempo.”Parker scored seven of her team-high nine points in the fourth quarter. Maggie Warren added seven points and 10 rebounds, while Sutton had seven points and Alley fiveAshley Skelton had nine points for Woodville, while Sandra Osburn had five and Emily Huston added four.Skyline made 5 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter to finish 7 of 42 (17 percent) for the game. The Vikings made up the difference at the foul line, going 13 for 23. “If we could only have just kept them off the line,” Joey Swinford said.
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