The South Laurel Lady Cardinals are heating up at the right time.
Chris Souder’s squad matched a season-best three-game win streak by doubling up 50th District foe Williamsburg, 86-43.
The win improved South Laurel to 14-11 overall, and 3-2 against 50th District competition while the Lady Yellow Jackets fell to 8-12, and 0-5.
The Lady Cardinals jumped on Williamsburg in the first quarter and never looked back, scoring a season-best 39 points in the first eight minutes.
That’s right, 39 points.
Shelbie Mills nailed five 3-pointers during the opening period while scoring 17 points. Emily Cox added 14 of her game-high 29 points, allowing South Laurel to build a 39-11 advantage.
Cox added 12 more points in the second period along with two 3-pointers while Jamie Buenaventura scored six points while hitting two 3-pointers to push the Lady Cardinals’ lead to 68-26 at halftime.
Williamsburg never recovered from its early deficit, as South Laurel cruised to an easy 43-point win.
“Good district win,” Souder said. “Anytime we are out of school, I worry some because we get out of routine and I warned our kids of this.
“We got out of the gate really fast,” he added. “We really shared the ball, giving up good shots for great ones. Emily and Shelbie were on fire. Emily had 26 at halftime and Shelbie with 19. But this is a result of making extra passes to get open looks. Now we have to get ready for another district game with Whitley on Friday and they played us really tough the first time.”
Mills added 19 points while Maci Messer finished with 10 points, and Buenaventura added eight points in the win.
Maddy Hopkins’ 17-point scoring effort led the Lady Yellow Jackets while Allie Wilson added 16 points.
South Laurel will be back in action Friday at home against Whitley County while Williamsburg will travel to play the Knoxville Ambassadors at 6:30 p.m.
