Pulling away for blowout win vs. West, Lady Hawks start hoops season 3-0

HARDIN VALLEY — With young players stepping up and experienced Hardin Valley Academy girls providing leadership, the result was a 3-0 record into early December for Jennifer Galloway’s basketball team.

Holding Knoxville West without a field goal for 10 1/2 minutes in the third and fourth quarters, Harden Valley cruised to a 71-38 victory Friday night, Dec. 3, at HVA.

Pulling away from a 35-26 halftime lead, “we were able to turn them over, and we were also able to get clean rebounds, which helped our transition,” Galloway said. “We scored a lot on transition during that time.”

Junior guard Lexi Hall led the Lady Hawks in scoring with a game-high 22.

“Everything starts with defense, it’s really the most important part of the game,” Hall said.

In the Lady Hawks’ half-court offense, “I felt we shot the ball well from the outside,” the coach said.

“I felt like, in the third quarter, we played up-tempo but we played under control on offense,” Galloway added.

“I though we had good play with our point guards — we’ve got new point guards,” which has led to freeing up one of the team’s top scorers to play another position.

Sophomore Gracie Waite, “our point guard last year, she gets to get the ball in different areas of the floor this year, which makes a big difference,” the coach said.

Freshman guard Kyndra West scored 16, with senior guard Avery Laugherty and freshman post Kamiyah Love adding eight apiece. Waite and freshman guard Kamryn Butcher each scored six. Ava Claire Wrather had three points and Faith Johnson two.