Late surge lifts No. 1 Tupelo over No. 8 Ripley
Dec. 1—RIPLEY — Robert Green pleaded with his Tupelo team to be patient in Tuesday night's game at Ripley.
That patience paid off in the fourth quarter, when the top-ranked Golden Wave pulled away with a 64-39 win after outscoring the No. 8 Tigers 21-4 in the final period.
The Wave (7-1) came into the contest averaging 85.8 points per game, but Ripley's determination to slow the pace down worked well for three quarters.
"We just had to wait and be disciplined because (Ripley) is very disciplined. So it was basically going to be which team was going to break first," Green said. "Not saying they broke, but we just had to force the issue a little bit."
Ripley (5-2) cut a nine-point deficit behind an 8-0 run sparked by brothers LaTrell and LaBron Vance. Clinging to a 36-35 lead, Tupelo closed the third on a quick 7-0 spurt, capped by a London Fields and-one with 19 seconds left.
Fields finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Then, a switch to a 2-3 zone gave Ripley fits in the fourth. The Tigers shot 2 of 18 from deep for the game, including a 0 for 14 mark in the second half.
"We couldn't get a ball to fall from the outside, and when you can't get one to fall from outside, against that type of size inside, you're going to struggle," said first-year Ripley coach Chris Byrd.
Tupelo's Gavin Shannon, a 6-foot-6 forward, was a mismatch, particularly in the post. His length helped him score 14 of his game-high 23 points in the paint. He was also 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
"My shot wasn't falling, so I knew I could just punish them at the rim, so I took advantage of it," Shannon said.
LaBron Vance led Ripley with 13 points and nine rebounds. LaTrell Vance added 12 points.
(G) Tupelo 62, Ripley 57: No. 1 Tupelo (6-2) survived a scare behind 12 points apiece from Nadia Norfleet and Lamarah Cleaves. Alorian Story led with 26 points, followed by 13 from Zanyae Daniel and 10 from Amy Rodgers for the Lady Tigers (5-3).
Three-Pointers
Turning Point: Up 36-35 at the 1:21 mark of the third, Tupelo outscored Ripley 28-4 the rest of the way.
Point Maker: Shannon was 7 of 12 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
Talking Point: "Early in the game we kind of broke down some of the disciplined things we talked about. But we went into the locker room, and the second half we kind of cleaned up those problem areas." — Green
