Second half burst gives Rebel girls another win

   The South Gray Runnin' Rebels girls basketball team saw its number one state ranking come into jeopardy Tuesday before exploding in the second half for a 77-42 victory in Meade.
    The Rebels battled back to within two at 11-9 late in the opening period after the Buffaloes opened the game with a hot hand. But crisp passing against the South Gray press and sharp outside shooting allowed Meade to extend its lead to 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
    The Buffs continued to handle the Rebel pressure and find ways to score throughout the second. A Jada Hardaway 3-ball with just over a minute left in the first half gave Meade its biggest lead of the game at eight points, 30-22.
    The Rebels scored seven unanswered points to go into the intermission trailing 30-29.
    The wheels came off for the Lady Buffs in the opening minutes of the second half as the Rebels started the period with a 12-0 run and eventually outscored Meade 26-7 in the third period. South Gray sophomore Mikayla Skidmore scored twelve of her game high 29 points in the third quarter.
    Brigit Hesser chipped in with 14 points in the game, and Kayla Thomas added 12 for South Gray. Hoffman led the way for Meade with 19.
    South Gray coach Tasha Trundle said her team didn't make wholesale changes at the half despite the early scare.
    “I told them to just start playing our game and just get back to basics and start running,” Trundle said. “When we run we are a hard team to beat.” 
    Meade head coach Troy Hoffman said his team let a big opportunity slip away in the loss.
    “They're a great team — they do a lot of things real well. There is a reason they are ranked number one in the state,” Hoffman said. “We just stopped coming to meet the ball in the second half. If you don't come to meet the ball against that team you are not going to have very many opportunities to score.”
    Trundle added: “Meade came ready to play — I was impressed. They did a really good job, and I'm glad we had that battle. We needed it. Just because we have Rebels on our chest does not mean that every team is just going to lay down and die for us. Every team is going to come at us like this, and we need to be prepared.” 
    The win improves South Gray to 7-0 on the season The Rebels travel to Pawnee Heights Friday.
    The Lady Buffs drop to 2-5 on the season and travel to Jetmore Friday for a date with the 4-2 Longhorns. Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 6 p.m.