Lady Horns win three straight

The Johnson County girls basketball team's taxing early season schedule might produce a rewarding return. After staggering to an 0-8 start against a schedule that included back-to-back meetings against Class 3A powerhouse Cocke County and games against Elizabethton, Unaka and Gate City, the Longhorns bounced back to begin conference play with two straight victories before adding a non-conference win against Hampton at home on Saturday. {{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="ae0e6273-781d-4b99-adcf-80019693e7c4"}} Johnson County defeated Happy Valley, 48-41, at home on Tuesday and recorded a road win against Unicoi County (76-70) on Friday. The victories didn't come a second too soon for Johnson County head coach Mark McClain, who'd begun to second-guess his stringent scheduling. "I thought there was a three- or four-game stretch where we just lost our confidence," McClain said. "We didn't shoot it, didn't play hard – just completely lost our confidence." But the win in Erwin reminded McClain that tough schedules almost invariably pay off eventually. "A week ago when I was, uh, ready to fire the head coach, which is me – I wouldn't have said that," McClain said. "But after kind of going through that and playing the teams we've played, I think it's toughened us up a little bit. It's showed us that we can compete with some better teams. Maybe the ole head coach isn't as dumb as I think he is." Junior point guard Mackenzie McClain paced three double-digit scorers with 23 points against the Blue Devils. Sophomores Audrey Shaw and Abby Dickens added 18 and 17 points, respectively. The trio also combined to make 11 of the Longhorns' 12 three-pointers at Unicoi County. Shaw hit five treys and McClain and Dickens each made three. "We've got kids committing to getting shots up," McClain said. "They didn't have to. They didn't have to take extra time out of their day to come in and get shots up. But they did, and it's showing. It showed against Happy Valley and it showed against Unicoi. "It's really cool to see that. If you can put up 76, you can play with a lot of teams." Johnson County jumped out to a 30-12 lead against the Blue Devils. Shaw capped the eruption with six straight points, including a three-point play in transition. Shaw scored or created scores with several coast-to-coast drives, as did McClain. "I thought we pushed the ball really well," McClain said. "I thought we attacked really well. I thought Audrey did a pretty good job getting to the hole and getting good shots. I think that might've been the difference in the game. Transition got us some easy shots." Johnson County also got seven points from Ella Icenhour. Six of those came during a game-opening 11-2 run, including a drop-step leaner and a left-handed finish after whirling near the left block. Izzy Thompson tallied five assists, including four while the 'Horns dashed to a 21-5 lead. She also drove for two baskets early in the second half when Unicoi County was beginning to rally. The Blue Devils trailed 69-55 with 3:52 remaining after a transition basket from Shaw. But it answered with a 13-2 run which Laney Rogers capped with a 3-pointer to cut the Longhorns' lead to 71-68. However, Dickens responded with a 3-pointer via a kickout from Shaw to make it 74-68 with 47 seconds to go. "When it got tight at the end, in the past we have folded," McClain said, "but we continued to fight and pulled out a win." C.J. Lipford also scored two interior buckets and Chasity Osborne hit a 3-pointer for the 'Horns. "I thought Ella, C.J. and Izzy really made a difference inside with some of their toughness, their grit, winning plays," McClain said. "We're starting to get to the point where kids understand what their role is, and that's a special thing. When you get kids that take pride in their role, it makes you a really good team." Johnson County's three-quarter court pressure defense generated plenty of turnovers. "I thought we did really good not getting sucked into the middle and getting some good traps," McClain said. "We've got some kids that are long and lanky that can get their hands up and get deflections. Two weeks ago when we had no confidence, we just didn't play hard on defense. Now, we're playing harder and seeing the fruits of that." Shaw made a trio of three-pointers en route to a team-high 14 points in a 51-40 win against Hampton on Saturday. Icenhour added 12 points, and Osborne and Thompson scored 11 points apiece. Dickens made four treys and scored a team-leading 14 points in Tuesday's win against Happy Valley. Shaw (11) and McClain (10) also scored in double figures, and Thompson scored all nine of her points in the second half. The Longhorns were to visit David Crockett on Tuesday.