By Russell Frye
The Priceville Lady Bulldogs, led by Coach Terrie Nelson, have opened up the 2018-19 season by winning their first 5 games with wins over Decatur, Lawrence County, Cold Springs, Mae Jemison and Buckhorn.
Coach Nelson is proud of how her team has started the season. Following the 5-0 start she said, “I’m very proud of the intensity the girls are playing with to start the season.” She is also excited by the leadership of the three returning starters and is pleased with the way younger players are contributing to every game. She stated, “We still have areas that need improving but our goal is to get better every game.”
Priceville 63 Decatur 32
Priceville opened their 2018-19 season on the road playing the Decatur High School Lady Red Raiders. They started off the season in a big way on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in winning 63 to 32. The Lady Bulldogs opened the game by outscoring the Lady Red Raiders 24-3 in the first quarter and led 41-10 at halftime. The second half was played to a 22-22 draw with Priceville playing a lot of younger players to help gain some experience for the season’s long haul.
Priceville was led by Kathleen Wheeler with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals. Skyler Benson scored 13 points and Jenna Walker led the team with 10 assists. As a team the Lady Bulldogs had 33 rebounds, 19 steals and 4 blocked shots.
All fourteen players on the roster saw action in the game with 8 players contributing to the scoring column.
Priceville 64 Lawrence County 26
Priceville played their first home game of the season against the Lady Red Devils of Lawrence County. The Lady Bulldogs took control of the game early by playing stingy defense and allowing the Lady Red Devils to score only 6 points in the first half. They led 33 to 6 at halftime and put the game out of reach in the third quarter. The final score was 64 to 26.
Priceville was led by Jenna Walker with 19 points and 9 assists. Kathleen Wheeler chipped in 12 points and 5 rebounds. Skyler Benson scored 11 points. The Lady Bulldogs had 32 rebounds, 16 assists and 19 steals. Lawrence County was led in scoring by Sadie Thompson with 9 points and Anna Claire Hutto with 5 points.
Fourteen players contributed in one way or another in the Lady Bulldogs victory. Priceville moves to 2-0 for the season and will now turn their attention to the Hartselle Thanksgiving Tournament.
Priceville 69 Cold Springs 64
In the first game of the Hartselle Thanksgiving Tournament the Lady Bulldogs faced off with the Lady Eagles of Cold Springs High School. The Lady Bulldogs faced adversity for the first time this season as the Lady Eagles controlled the action for much of the game. The Lady Bulldogs trailed 18 to 15 after the first quarter and then 33 to 32 at halftime. Coming out of the locker room in the third quarter the Lady Eagles extended their lead to 54 to 46. However, in the fourth quarter the Lady Bulldogs offense and defense took over the game in outscoring the Lady Eagles 23 to 10 to win by a final score 69 to 64.
Priceville was led in scoring by Kathleen Wheeler and Skyler Benson with the pair scoring 25 points each. Jenna Walker had the Lady Bulldogs first double-double of the season in scoring 12 points and a team high 16 assists. The Lady Bulldogs finished with 28 rebounds, 20 assists, 7 steals and 6 blocks. Priceville moved to 3-0 for the season.
Cold Springs was led by Elizabeth Hill and Toni West with both scoring 22 points apiece.
During the game, Kathleen Wheeler became the all-time leading scorer for the Priceville Lady Bulldogs as she passed previous all-time leading scorer Pressley Darling’s 1,503 career points. Wheeler now holds the record with 1,523 points and this number will be sure to grow and the Lady Bulldogs will play in more than 25 more games this season.
Priceville 55 Mae Jemison 49
Priceville started Thanksgiving week with a morning tip-off with the Lady Jaguars from Mae Jemison High School in Huntsville at Hartselle High School. The Lady Bulldogs opened the game outscoring the Lady Jags 19-15 in the first and they led 33-22 at halftime. Priceville moved the lead to 45-30 after the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Jags outscored the Lady Bulldogs 19–12 to make the final score 55-49.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by Kathleen Wheeler who scored a team high 23 points and by Skyler Benson who tallied their second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jenna Walker pitched in 8 points and 8 assists. The Lady Bulldogs finished with 33 rebounds, 19 assists, 18 steals and 4 blocks. Priceville moved to 4-0 for the season.
Once again, Priceville celebrated a milestone for one of their senior players as Skyler Benson scored her 1,000th point during the game.
Priceville 65 Buckhorn 47
The Lady Bulldogs finished off the Hartselle Thanksgiving Tournament with a 65-47 win over the Buckhorn Lady Bucks. Once again the Lady Bulldogs defense led the way in the first half as they outscored the Lady Bucks 18-4 in the first quarter and led 37-17 at halftime. They extended their lead to 61-31 going into the fourth quarter. The Lady Bucks outscored Priceville 16-4 in the fourth quarter to make the final score 65-47.
Priceville was once again led by the trio of Wheeler, Benson and Walker. Wheeler scored a season high 32 points and finished with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Benson scored 12 points and led the Lady Bulldogs with 8 rebounds. Walker scored 12 points and led the team with 7 assists.
Buckhorn was led by Mackenzie White with 10 points and C. Tibbs with 9 points.
Priceville moves to 5-0 for the season. The Lady Bulldogs will play the 6A Hartselle Tigers on Monday night, Nov. 26, and then with their first area game of the year with the Danville Lady Hawks on Friday Night, Nov. 30. Both games will be played at Priceville.
