Morgan Has ‘Two Grand’ Night

FAREWELL – Major milestones in high school sports come infrequently. which is why the next goal for Bucktail’s Maria Morgan hitting the 2,000 point career scoring mark was so important. After all, she only needed 21 points which was well within her game average.

Morgan knew how much her team, coaches, family and the entire community were expecting her to make the task look easy.

Easy it was not, for Millville, the defending District 4 A champions stood in her way. In a very big way. Morgan faced double coverage most of the night and even triple coverage on many plays. The Lady Quakers were not going give Morgan any quarter.

Stifled by errant shots, the Lady Bucks struggled early to score consistently even though they had ample opportunities. Morgan was, as usual, unselfish with the ball making sure to pass off to team mates when they were open. Though many shots were just not dropping.

Even though the lady Bucks struggled early, they were still within reach only trailing 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Not much changed for Bucktail in the second quarter as they continued to seek improvement offensively. Thankfully, it was their stingy defensive play that helped to keep the Lady Quakers in check trailing Millville 27-20 at the half. Morgan had only seven points to her credit at the break.

The third quarter was more of the same as Morgan and the Lady Bucks were still looking for consistency on offense yet only trailing by six, 41-35 heading into the final period.

Morgan continued to chip away at the total she needed to hit her second grand though as she did, Millville was also inching forward in their lead.

Finally, with 2:42 remaining in the game and needing only two points to hit her goal, Morgan drove the lane, was fouled and calmly stepped up to the foul line and sunk the first of two free throws. Then Morgan called a time out to gather with her coaches and team to savor the moment and set the game plan for the remainder of the contest.

When the whistle blew, Morgan drained her second shot that was answered with cheers, tears and celebration.

Then a brief intermission to mark the milestone was held to honor Morgan for her achievement. Bucktail principal, Betsy Dickey presented gifts and displayed the 2,000 mini cupcakes students prepared for the occasion and Athletic Director, Jack Hanobic presented Morgan with a plaque.

In the remaining minutes of the game, Millville added to their lead wining the game 59-42.

Fortunately, the Lady Bucks won’t have long to wait to avenge the loss as they will host Austin on Wednesday then travel to Millville on Saturday for a re-match.

Jan. 5, 2014	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
MILLVILLE	15	12	12	20	59
BUCKTAIL	9	11	11	11	42

BUCKTAIL 42. MILLVILLE 59

MILLVILLE (59)

A. Belles 3 2-6 8, M. Henrie 1 0-0 2, M. Bower 3 2-2 8, N. Whitenight 0 1-2 1, M. Bower 15 6-6 36, A. Rine 1 0-0 2, A. Fry 0 1-4 1, M. Sweeney 0 1-2 1, Total: 23 11-22 59.

BUCKTAIL (42)

Maria Morgan 5 8-14 21, Shae Cowfer 1 0-0 2, Alaina Tripp 3 0-0 6, Abby Ransom 0 0-0 0, Natasha Peck 1 0-0 2, Tiffany Werts 4 1-2 9, Emily Mills 1 0-0 2, Total: 15 9-16 42.
3-point goals: Millville 0, Bucks 2 (Morgan 2)

JV: Millville 39, Bucktail 20

High scorer: Millville: M. Sweeney 8 Bucks: Emalea Mills 7

Records: Bucks 7-2

Next game: Wednesday Home Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Morgan 8 assist, 8 steals and 8 rebounds Werts had 12 rebounds

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