The Lady Braves played stifling defense against the Murphy Lady Bulldogs in a home game on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Here, Cherokee’s Tiffani Riggen (#24) and Kendall Toineeta (#3) give Murphy’s Jenna Bello (#21) little options. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
The Cherokee Lady Braves improved to 19-1 on the season with an impressive 40-point victory (65-25) over the Murphy Lady Bulldogs at home on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Kendall Toineeta, Lady Braves senior point guard, led Cherokee with 20 points and nine steals.
“I thought, defensively, especially in the first half, we played about as well as you can play,” said Lady Braves head coach Chris Mintz. “We were all over the place covering them, and they were making turnovers. It makes things a lot easier for us when we can get so many turnovers.”
In all, Cherokee had three players in double figures including Toineeta (20), Tiffani Riggen (16) and Reagan Barnard (12). Riggen also had six rebounds and six assists.
The Lady Braves came to play in this game and took a 10-0 lead in the first two minutes. They extended that lead to 16-1 at the 2:02 mark in the first period and ended up leading 20-3 by the end of the first.
Cherokee kept the pressure up with an intense full court press and dominated the second period as well to take a 32-9 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Lady Braves came out on fire in the third period as well and took a 39-13 lead at the 5:21 mark and outscored Murphy 17-7 in the period to take a 49-18 lead into the fourth.
LeLe Lossiah, Lady Braves forward, hit a two-point shot at the 5:28 mark in the fourth period giving Cherokee a 40-point (58-18) lead and invoking the NCHSAA mercy rule. The Lady Braves went on to outscore the Lady Bulldogs 16-7 in the fourth to take the large 40-point win at 65-25.
Other Cherokee scorers included: Macie Welch 2, LeLe Lossiah 2, Kaycee Lossiah 2, Shelby Wolfe 7 and Brionna Jumper 4.
Murphy scorers included: Katelyn Stiles 2, Ally Larson 2, Jenna Bello 4, McKena Jones 2, Emma Stroup 11 and Hayley Taylor 4.
To view or purchase photos from this game, visit: https://onefeather.smugmug.com/SPORTS/BASKETBALL/LADY-BRAVES-BASKETBALL-201415/Vs-Murphy-February-3/
