By Tom Reck
Terre Haute North got off to a winning start in girls basketball Tuesday night, leading all the way to defeat Turkey Run 40-38 in the season opener for both teams at North.
The Patriots will be back on the court tonight, meeting Northview in the Hi-99/Terre Haute Savings Bank Classic at West Vigo while Turkey Run meets Rockville on Thursday in the Banks of Wabash Classic at North Vermillion.
North hit 11 of 19 shots in the first half and had a 23-13 lead at intermission.
The Warriors outscored the host Patriots 11-6 in the third canto to trail 29-24 and cut the lead to three points at 31-28 and to two at 33-31 on Jordan Hunt’s 3-pointer.
North then got its last seven points at the free-throw line — five by Lindy Jones — and had a 40-35 lead with 14 seconds to play. Hailey Cox came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer for Turkey Run to close out the scoring.
Chelsea Francis led all scorers with 20 points for the Warriors while Jones had 10 points for the winners.
Freshman Nicole Anderson picked up her fourth foul in the third period but still finished with seven points on 2-of-3 shooting and seven rebounds. Mary Kate Etling and Olivia Finley each had six rebounds to help the Patriots outrebound the Warriors 33-25.
Coach Mike Allen said his players were unselfish and looked for other people on offense. “We’ll have to rebound better [tonight],” he said.
TURKEY RUN (38) — L. Cox 0-4 0-3 0, Hunt 2-8 1-1 6, Davies 2-3 0-2 4, Newnum 2-9 1-3 5, C. Francis 8-17 3-5 20, M. Francis 0-2 0-0 0, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, H. Cox 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 15-44 FG, 5-14 FT 38 TP.
TERRE HAUTE NORTH (40) — Etling 2-6 0-2 4, Jones 1-3 8-10 10, Anderson 2-3 3-4 7, Bårnhill 2-6 2-2 6, McCarthy 3-10 0-0 6, Seeley 2-3 3-4 7, Finley 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 12-33 FG, 5-14 FT, 40 TP.
Turkey Run 7 6 11 14 — 38
Terre Haute North 10 13 6 11 — 40
3-point goals — TR (3-18) Hunt 1-3, Newnum 0-5, C. Francis 1-8, M. Francis 0-1, H. Cox 1-1, THN (0-3) Barnhill 0-1, McCarthy 0-2. Total fouls — TR 17, THN 14. Fouled out — Hunt, Davies. Rebounds — TR 25 (Davies 5, Newnum 4), THN 33 (Anderson 7, Etling 6, Finley 6). Turnovers — TR 15, THN 20.
JV — Terre Haute North 35 (Jade Rakes 12), Turkey Run 33 (Kylee Karr 14, Hailey Cox 13).
Next — Terre Haute North (1-0) plays Northview tonight in the Hi-99/Terre Haute Savings Bank Classic at West Vigo. Turkey Run (0-1) meets Rockville on Thursday in the Banks of Wabash Classic at North Vermillion.
