By Johnny Sanders,
Sports Editor
The Moody Lady Blue Devils continued their winning streak Friday night as they welcomed the Leeds Lady Green Wave for the Battle of the Bridge rivalry. With the 58-34 win, Moody picked up their fourth straight victory and started off region play 1-0, as well.
“Tonight opened area play for us and I think that they understand that today starts a whole new season,” said Becca Davis, Moody’s coach.
Offensively, Moody wasted no time scoring and they did so very often in the first quarter, jumping out to a 21-6 lead on the shoulders of Tori Pyles who had 10 points in the frame and finished the night with 18 points total.
Slowing down a little, they Lady Blue Devils scored 12 in the second half while Leeds’ Marley Miller put up six of their seven points in the quarter. Moody went into the locker room with a commanding 33-13 lead.
The third quarter was much of the same with smothering defense from Moody and more scoring on the offensive side of the ball. Pyles’ teammates Emma Kyle (10 points total) and seventh grader Serenity Rutledge (six points) were more than willing to pitch in on the offensive side of the ball, while Kendall Stephens’ presence in the paint proved dominant on the defensive side of the ball.
For Leeds, Miller finished with nine points, all three-pointers, and Gianna Davis had 12 points with six of them coming from the free throw line. Davis was 6-7 from the charity stripe on the night.
But the Moody offense proved to be just too much for the Lady Green Wave on Friday night.
“I was a little worried after the big win against Spain Park last night,” Davis said. “Generally, with girls when that happens, you come out a little flat the next night. There are some things that we need to clean up, but I can’t complain too much. These kids have been playing for me for a long time. I think in that time together, they have matured. It doesn’t take much to get them pumped to play rivals. We executed and we were not flat coming out of the door.”
Moody is now 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the area. They will play at St. Clair County Tuesday night. Leeds is now 0-6 on the year and 0-1 in the area. They will travel to Briarwood Christian Monday night.
