Lady Red Devils clip Oden in season opener

MOUNTAIN PINE -- Summer Godwin recorded a double-double as Mountain Pine rolled to a 55-45 win over Oden Thursday night.

Godwin got the Lady Red Devils off to a good start, putting up the first six points for Mountain Pine as she went on to lead all scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds with three steals.

"That's a big motivator for us for the rest of the year, just that one victory," said Mountain Pine head coach Todd Willis. "Getting out here and finally getting to play. My seniors stepped up, and my freshman stepped up. There was so much emotion, coming down to the wire the way we did."

Mountain Pine struggled early in the fourth as the Lady Timberwolves went on a 5-2 run before the home team found its rhythm to secure the win.

"We missed seven uncontested layups," said Oden head coach Jared Selby. "That was the difference. We were in good positions to make the plays. We just couldn't concentrate enough to put the ball in. Not to take anything away from Mountain Pine; they've got a solid team, a good team. It should have been a more competitive game at the end, in my opinion. I thought we were more closely matched up than what the score portrayed. It just goes back to concentration issues with our team. There's stuff we're working through right now."

Alli Meeks hit back-to-back treys in the quarter to give the Lady Red Devils a 12-5 lead before hitting her third three-pointer of the night at the buzzer for a 19-8 lead.

Oden went on an 6-0 run in the middle of the second period, outscoring Mountain Pine 14-11 for a 30-22 halftime deficit.

Both teams traded shots early in the third before Mountain Pine went on an 8-2 run to close the third up 44-32.

Kalariya McDaniel had 12 points on the night while Meeks added 11 with seven rebounds and two steals.

"I just can't say enough about my seniors," Willis said. "Alli stepping up. She handled the ball when we had to have the ball down the floor. All of those girls on the floor came up big here in the fourth quarter, even when it started looking a little bleak for us, they picked it back up and carried us through for a victory. We've got some things we're going to work on, and we're going to get better."

Oden was led by Shawna Van Horn with 17 points, two rebounds and a steal while Allie Strother added 13 with two rebounds and two steals.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line, Oden making 11 of 20 for 55 percent while Mountain Pine sank nine of 17 for 52 percent.

"We practice that every day," Willis said. "We'll definitely go to work on that. Our ball security, playing under control and try not to get in such a hurry to get the ball down the floor. There's some things that we need to work on, but it's easily correctible. We'll be back out here next Tuesday to push it again. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of them for how they pushed through, even when a little adversity came out. We battled and came out with a victory."

Mountain Pine hit 43 percent from the field compared to Oden's 28, but the Lady Timberwolves sank 30 percent from outside the arc relative to Mountain Pine's 25 percent.

"I'm not going to be mad at missing jump shots, but a layup, especially when nobody is around us, that's a concentration thing," Selby said. "That's a focus issue. We didn't come out focused."

Mountain Pine (1-0) hosts Bismarck Tuesday, and Oden (1-5) hosts Horatio Friday.

Sports on 11/11/2017

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