LOGAN ROGERSVILLE WILDCATS
FAIR GROVE — One year after going 20-6, the Rogersville Lady Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start with a 70-23 win over Battle in its opener, then followed with dominant performance against Lebanon in the opening round of the Fair Grove Tournament on Monday.
Rogesrville (2-0) got 22 points from senior Jordyn Gault en route to a 65-36 win over the Yellowjackets and will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Thursday in a semifinal game against the host Lady Eagles at the Fair Grove Tournament.
“I thought we played good and played good on the defensive end and I think we played well on the offensive end against that kind of pressure,” McHenry said.
Lebanon played a variety of zone defenses, including a 3-2, a 1-3-1 and got out and trapped the corners and extended its pressure at times. Rogersville committed just three turnovers in the first half, the coughed it up several times in the second half.
“The thing I found out about this team tonight is that we were willing and able to make the extra pass,” McHenry said. “We didn’t play to lose when we had the lead. Even though we shot it a little early in the second half, we weren’t running any clock and there were times we settled for shots we could have got at any time.”
Rogersville isn’t an especially big team with just one player standing 5’10, but does a good job sharing the ball and attacking the basket.
“I was proud of our defense and that is what we hang our hat on, but offensively I thought we did a good job against their pressure,” McHenry said.
Rogersville was without two key players on Monday against Lebanon and says their return will add depth to the line-up.
“We would like to press a little more but we’re not going to do that in a tournament with just eight players,” McHenry said. “Our JV is playing on the road so we are a little short handed.”
McHenry says the program has spent a lot of time chewing up clock and playing a defensive-first style of play in his first three years at the school but says this year’s team is capable of playing a little faster and taking advantage of a guard heavy roster.
Rogersville will lean heavily on Gault, a 5’8 2019 guard who was the COC Small Player of the Year as a sophomore.
“She’s probably our best shooter, our leading scorer,” McHenry said.
Point guard Hailey Brown, a 5’6 senior, will be counted on for leadership this season.
“She has done a tremendous job through the first two games of just seeing the floor and getting the girls organized and not panicking,” McHenry said.
Maci McHenry, a 5’10 junior, is the team’s tallest player and will be counted on for post defense and a presence on the boards.
“Keeping her out of foul trouble will be huge and so far in two games she has been able to do that,” McHenry said.
Also in the mix has been 5’6 forward 2020 Shelby Ince, 5’5 2019 guard Taylor Overstreet and 5’4 2019 guard Gracie Gorman and others have produced in big moments.
“Coming into the season I would have told you (Gault, Brown, McHenry) would be big for us, but in the first two games Shelby has come off the bench and done a great job,” McHenry said. “Overstreet has done a good job putting the ball on the floor and getting places and Gorman is our our sparkplug and gives us great energy.”
