Priceville third in tourney
Enquirer Photo: Todd Thompson Priceville’s Sydney McLendon drives in for a basket in the Lady Bulldogs’ loss to Briarcrest of Tennessee.
ROGERSVILLE – Priceville expected to face some tough competition in the Northwest Alabama Christmas Tournament at Lauderdale County High School last week.
The Lady Bulldogs’ run in the tournament was derailed with a 74-47 loss to Briarcrest, Tenn., in the upper division semifinals Wednesday.
“Briarcrest is a very good basketball team,” said Priceville head coach Catrina Mason. “I don’t think you will find many teams in Alabama as talented as Briarcrest.”
Priceville led 7-2 early in the first quarter and trailed just 18-17 at the start of the second quarter before Briarcrest’s pressure started to affect the Lady Bulldogs.
Briarcrest – a private school outside Memphis – outscored Priceville 38-15 in the second and third quarters to put the game out of reach.
“I thought we played well the first half,” said Mason. “We just didn’t play well in the third quarter and Briarcrest took advantage of that.
“We had a good tournament and that will help us prepare for the rest of the season.”
Presley Darling led Priceville with 12 points, while Jordan Crow added nine points.
Crow scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter as the Lady Bulldogs took an early five-point lead.
Amber Smith and Sydney McLendon added six points each for Priceville.
Briarcrest’s Sam McColgan scored a game-high 20 points with 12 coming in the second half.
Dakota Doss added 16 points, while Taylor Pugh chipped in with 12 points.
Priceville 53, Giles County (Tenn.) 50
After falling to Briarcrest in the semifinals, Priceville came back to beat Giles County 53-50 in the third-place game last Thursday.
Sydney McLendon led Priceville with 13 points in the win. Presley Darling added seven points and 10 rebounds.
Giles County’s Alexis Brayden scored a game-high 22 points in the loss.
Priceville 72, Ardmore 61
Sydney McLendon led Priceville with 19 points in a second-round game.
Amber Smith added 18 points, while Presley Darling finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win.
Ardmore’s Callie Bryant scored 24 points.
