LONDON — What looked like a race to finish ended up as a South Laurel 25-point win during the Lady Cardinals’ matchup with Bell County on Saturday.
The last game of the Roy Bowling Classic turned out to be a doozy with South Laurel clinging to a one-point lead at halftime before cruising to an 88-63 win over the Lady Bobcats.
Freshman Shelbie Mills turned in one of her best varsity games of her young career, scoring 33 points while hitting five 3-pointers. Teammate Jamie Buenaventura added 18 points while Kylie Smith hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points, and Skeeter Mabe chipped in 11 points.
“Good win tonight,” South Laurel coach Chris Souder said. “It was an absolute track meet the first half. I was fine with the offense but defensively we really struggled. Lamb, Wilder, McGeorge really put it to us in the first half. Our assistants suggested we try a couple different defenses at half and they paid off.
“Shelbie Mills has such a great motor and is just relentless,” he added. “We got good bench play from Kylie Smith as well. Jamie Buenaventura just continues to battle. Like I said, we consider Bell a region contender so for our team this was a really nice win.”
The game was tied at 25 apiece entering the second quarter as the Lady Cardinals held a 48-47 edge at halftime.
Mills scored 10 points in the third quarter as South Laurel went on a 20-7 run to take a 68-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
Mills added seven more points and a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter while Aubrey Bundy, Maci Messer, and Smith also hit a 3-pointer apiece allowing the Lady Cardinals to pull away.
Gracie Jo Wilder led Bell County with 25 points while Kairi Lamb added 23 points, and Lauren McGeorge scored 13 points.
