Posted on September 6, 2018.
By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Lady Trojan Kennedy Lamar goes for a spike attempt against Brighton last week in Millington in front of the watchful eyes of her teammates Hannah Clifton and Ally Marona.
The Brighton Lady Cardinals made the trip down Highway 51 North on Aug. 27 to take on area rival the Millington Lady Trojans.
Both squads feature a mixture of senior experience and young talent. As August came to an conclusion, both head coaches Shayna Johnson of Brighton and Abby Wade of Millington saw the contest as a chance to improve toward their district schedules.
The Lady Trojans are the defending District 15-2A champions. Meanwhile the Lady Cardinals are in the mix of competitive Class 3A league with Munford, Bolton, Dyer County and Arlington.
Johnson felt her squad took a step in the right direction after beating Millington 25-15, 25-22 and 25-15.
“We’re looking good,” Johnson said. “We still do have a young team. We have 10 sophomores on our team. We’re trying to get better everyday. And they’ve been giving me their all and working really hard.
“I preach to them there’s always room to grow,” she added. “When they’re out there and so young they’re getting a lot of this good experience a lot of other players don’t get to have. We are such a young team but they’re really using this to benefit ourselves.”
The Lady Cardinals got in some good work throughout the first set grabbing an early advantage over Millington sparked by Molly Rhinehardt, DeMiyah Gatlin and Shamorow Taylor.
The trio was aggressive at the net until Lady Trojans like Kennedy Lamar and Ally Marona started to block the spike attempts. Brighton made adjustments to snatch the opening set 25-15.
The Lady Cardinals were cruising to a second set victory ahead 22-15. Then Millington responded with a run to narrow the score to 23-21.
Johnson called a timeout to address her players on the court and get her bench back into the contest.
“High intensity,” she said. “When we were quiet and our girls weren’t cheering, that’s what keeps us low. But playing with energy and high intensity, that’s Brighton’s game.”
The second set was Brighton’s game 25-22. Ahead two sets, the Lady Cardinals closed out the match winning the third set 25-15. Brighton senior captain Lauron Chaney was attacking the Millington defense with kills.
Defending Lady Trojan kill attempts throughout the third set were Lady Cardinals MacKenzie Winnans, Andi Coulston, Rhinehardt and libero Audrey Parimore.
Go to: Millington-News.com
