Lady Indians go 1-1 to start region play

The LCHS varsity girls basketball team began its Region 7-AAA schedule with a 1-1 record after defeating the Cherokee Bluff Lady Bears before falling to the East Hall Lady Vikings in heartbreaking fashion last week.
The Lady Indians started the week by hitting the road to take on the Lady Bears of Cherokee Bluff on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Junior point guard Isabel Davenport continued her electric play this season with a 21-point performance against the Lady Bears. Davenport’s ability to score from anywhere on the court and her lock down defense helped the Lady Indians earn their sixth victory of the season, as Lumpkin defeated Cherokee Bluff by a final score of 53-42.
Davenport finished the game as the Lady Indians’ top scorer with her 21 points. The junior also recorded five assists and four steals in the contest.
Davenport was helped out by freshman Kate Jackson’s double-double. Jackson knocked down 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the victory to go along with her three steals.
Freshman Lexi Pierce also made a solid impact on the game for Lumpkin with 14 points, five deflections and three steals.
Junior Makenzie Caldwell added seven points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
The victory improved the Lady Indians’ overall record to 6-2 and gave Lumpkin a 1-0 start to conference play.
The Lady Indians hoped to remain in the win column when they hosted the East Hall Lady Vikings at the Longhouse at the LCHS gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 6, for a region matchup.
The Lady Vikings came into the contest winless, starting the 2019-2020 season with a 0-4 record.
The first quarter proved to be a low scoring affair for both teams, but Lumpkin was able to barely outscore East Hall 8-5 to take a three-point advantage into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the two conference foes battled in a back-and-forth fight until the halftime buzzer sounded. Both the Lady Indians and the Lady Vikings scored 12 points in the quarter, allowing Lumpkin to head into the break with a small 20-17 advantage.
Foul trouble reared its ugly head for the Lady Indians in the second half of play. Both Jackson and Caldwell would end up fouling out in the contest.
With Jackson sitting on the bench for most of the second half, the Lady Indians barely outscored East Hall 8-7 in the third quarter to hold on to a 28-24 lead going into the final quarter of play.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter the Lady Vikings retook the lead for the first time since the first quarter at 32-30. East Hall went ahead of Lumpkin by as many as four points in the quarter.
The Lady Indians tried to battle back behind inspired play from Davenport and cut the Lady Vikings’ lead to 44-43 in the final minute of the contest. However, the Lady Vikings knocked down some big free throws in the final seconds to hold on to a 46-43 victory over Lumpkin.
Davenport put in a thrilling performance for Lumpkin in the loss, dropping 23 points on East Hall. But, her strong performance was not enough for Lumpkin to pick up the victory.
Caldwell contributed nine points and Madisyn Echols added six points in the defeat.
The loss dropped the Lady Indians’ overall record to 6-3 and their region record to 1-1.
At press time, the Lady Indians were set to travel to Fannin County to square off with the Lady Rebels in a Region 7-AAA matchup on Tuesday, Dec. 10. No official results were available.
Lumpkin will take to the court next when the Lady Indians travel to Greater Atlanta Christian to battle it out with the Lady Spartans in a conference contest this Friday, Dec. 13. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.