WEST MADISON — Five minutes before sending his team onto the court to face Logan, veteran Scott coach John Porter commented, “We have a good team with experienced players, but lately we have also developed the bad habit of waiting until we are pushed a little to turn it on.”

Obviously, Porter already had addressed that concern with his team as the Lady Skyhawks opened the game with a pedal-to-the-metal pace and never looked back in their 76-30 win over the Lady Wildcats.

With senior guard Rachel Holstein smoothly directing Scott’s offense, sophomore guard Ciera Bias (six) and senior forward Holly Turley (four) combined for 10 quick points as the Lady Skyhawks bolted to a 13-0 advantage.

Holstein dished out a trio of early assists, and senior forward Micah Ballard added an inside hoop and a free throw to the Scott spurt.

Freshman guard Erica Kelley eventually put the visiting Lady Wildcats on the scoreboard by swishing a three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the opening stanza, but the Lady Skyhawks took a 14-3 upper hand into the second quarter.

Scott gained control of the contest with the game-opening 13-0 streak, then put the game away with a 25-7 second-quarter effort.

Holstein (seven) and Ballard (six) teamed up for 13 second-period points. Turley added a pair of in-the-paint buckets, and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Tadlock and freshman guard Jennifer Spry each netted a three-pointer as the Lady Skyhawks pulled away for a 39-10 halftime lead.

Ballard’s inside hoop handed Scott a 28-7 lead midway through the quarter and Holstein’s short jumper off of an assist from Tadlock stretched the lead to 30 points at 39-9 a half-minute before intermission.

A jumper by Bias late in the third stanza shoved Scott’s lead to 35 points at 54-19 and an inside hoop by sophomore center Brittani Adkins early in the final period pushed the Lady Skyhawks into a 40-point advantage at 66-26.

Scott connected on 25 two-point goals, five three-pointers and 11-of-17 free throws.

Holstein (15) and Turley (14) combined for 29 points to pace Scott. Tadlock netted 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

Ballard added 11 markers. Bias tallied eight points. Adkins and Spry netted six and five points, respectively.

Freshman guard Kristin Stevens tossed in three points. Sophomore forward Shaneece Price chipped in two points.

Freshman guard Jessica Bias topped the Lady Wildcats’ scoring column with seven points. Junior forward Rojet Lowe and junior center Charmaine O’Neal added six points apiece.

Prior to the game, Porter and the Lady Skyhawks remembered longtime supporter Veda Perry by placing a plaque in her honor near the place where she regularly sat and cheered for Scott High School athletic teams.

Perry, a loyal Skyhawk supporter for decades, passed away in the spring.

Scott 55, Tolsia 44

An 11-2 second-half surge allowed the fourth-ranked Lady Skyhawks to escape Glenhayes with a hard-fought road win over the 10th-ranked Lady Rebels.

Scott extended its winning streak to eight games and snapped Tolsia’s winning streak at five games.

Neither team led by more than four points at any stage of the opening half and a 4-0 run to start the third quarter allowed Tolsia to turn a 25-23 halftime deficit into a 27-25 lead.

But the Lady Skyhawks got a three-pointer from Holstein with 5:03 left in the third to take a 28-27 lead and never trailed again.

Scott's lead was 32-31 after a layup by Tolsia senior forward Toni Farley with 1:58 remaining in the quarter, but the Lady Skyhawks then reeled off 11 of the game's next 13 points to pull away from the Lady Rebels.

Tolsia, which fell to Scott in last year's Class AA Region VI title game, got no closer than eight points the rest of the way and the 11-point margin of victory also matched the Lady Skyhawks' biggest cushion of the contest.

Holstein finished with a game-high 18 points, making 4-of-10 field goal attempts and 8-of-11 free throw attempts. She also grabbed five rebounds, recorded three steals, dished two assists and collected one block.

Turley followed with 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and 10-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe. She also contributed nine rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Ballard netted 7-of-11 field goal attempts for 14 points and added eight boards, one block and one steal. Adkins contributed two points, one steal, four assists and 10 rebounds.

Tadlock added five points, one assist, one rebound and one steal for the Lady Skyhawks, who made 17-of-39 field goal attempts and 18-of-23 free throw attempts.

Scott committed 20 turnovers, one more than Tolsia.

"Give Scott some credit,” said Tolsia coach Ric Morrone, whose team made 17-of-59 field goal attempts and 9-of-14 free throw attempts. “They are very methodical and they don't beat themselves. When they control the tempo, they are tough to stop."

Senior guard Courtney Gillman led the Lady Rebels with eight points. Farley and sophomore guards Kara Pollinger and Amber Finley each netted seven points.

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Scott visited Burch on Tuesday. Results from that game were unavailable for this week’s issue but will be published in next week’s edition.

Up next for Scott (14-1) is a home game against Tolsia on Friday and a road game against Logan on Tuesday.

Wayne County News Sports Editor Randy Payton contributed to this report.

Contact Gary Mullins at HYPERLINK "mailto:cvnsports@coalvalleynews.com" cvnsports@coalvalleynews.com or 369-1165.