Lady Colonels beat Lady Mustangs

BUCKNER – Tara Huckvale got involved at both ends and the Oldham County Lady Colonels were better for it as they beat North Oldham 61-38 Thursday.Huckvale, a 6-foot-3 senior center for OCHS, played a key role as the Lady Colonels opened the second half with a 15-2 scoring run to break the game open.“We play a lot better when our guards get good defensive pressure out front and when we pass the ball,” Huckvale said. “We were looking for people on offense and I was able to find some open spots in the middle.”Huckvale finished the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.She had four points, two blocks and changed several shots during the second half run that allowed the Lady Colonels to take a six-point halftime lead to 19 points midway through the third quarter.“We picked up our pressure full court and got some of the first easy baskets we have gotten in a long time,” OCHS coach Jamie Dumstorf said. “Tara did a really nice job at both ends during the run because she was active and moving.”Leading 29-23 at the start of the third period, the Lady Dragons got a free throw from Audri Beaudrie to start the run.Beaudrie missed the second free throw, but Lindsay Melton grabbed the rebound for a putback.Beaudrie, who led the Lady Colonels with 21 points, came back with a follow shot of her own the next trip down the floor.OCHS’ defense continued to disrupt the Lady Mustangs forcing a turnover leading to a six-footer in the lane from Huckvale.Dani Irwin then stripped Amanda Gullion and hit a breakaway layup to push the lead to 38-23.Huckvale blocked a shot in the lane by NOHS’ Erin Overcash that led to a nice three pass sequence inside for a score when Irwin fed Huckvale on the high post and she found Melton alone under the basket for a layup.The defense, which set up the play, kept NOHS’ Overcash from becoming a factor in the second half.Overcash led NOHS with 18 points, 10 of which came in the first half on a variety of drives around the lane.“We started rotating a lot better on defense,” Huckvale said. “Overcash was getting into the middle and getting a lot of easy shots and we needed to take that away from them.”The Lady Colonels closed the run with a follow shot from Huckvale.OCHS then forced another NOHS turnover leading to a drive in the lane from Beaudrie that made it 44-25 with 1:51 left in the third quarter. NOHS never challenged after that.

OCHS - 14 15 19 13 61 - Ellen Ford 4, Dani Irwin 5, Lindsay Melton 11, Emily Lape 6, Audri Beaudrie 21, Tara Huckvale 14, 61.NOHS - 11 12 6 9 38 - Emily Crutcher 8, Kelli Condren 5, Erin Overcash 18, Allison Olive 2, Amanda Gullion 2, Olivia Raffli 3, 38.

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