BY BRIAN HAMILTON
KNOXVILLE – Alcoa jumped out on West early and never let up, as the Lady Tornadoes found themselves leading by 30 points at halftime, which resulted in Alcoa coach David Baumann playing his entire roster and cruising to a 72-14 win to start 2024.
Amelia Pfeiffer (14) goes up for two of her game-high 14 points against West. Photo by Brian Hamilton
“It gets the right taste in their mouths, obviously (after New Year’s break),” Baumann said after the game. “It gets them back in shape a little bit. We talked about it before the game and during the game and we always want to work on ‘us’ and obviously it was good to get everyone a chance to play and I think everybody who got to play scored.”
Amelia Pfeiffer put Alcoa on the board with two early baskets to give the Lady Tornadoes a 4-0 lead. Halle Bailey followed with a steal and layup to make the score 6-0, followed by a Kara Pitts three-pointer that extended the Alcoa lead to 9-0, forcing an early West timeout.
West scored its first basket with just over five minutes in the first quarter when Ashlyn Stewart nailed a three to cut the Lady Tornadoes’ lead to 9-3.
Alcoa extended its lead to double-digits when Pfeiffer grabbed a rebound and scored to make the score 13-3 with 3:45 left in the opening session.
The Lady Tornadoes took a commanding 20-5 lead into the second quarter of play.
Maddy Stewart opened the second period with a basket to extend the lead to 22-5, but West’s Caroline Wanamaker answered with a floater to make the score 22-7.
A steal and layup by Jacy Cox would push the Alcoa lead to 30-7, as the Lady Tornadoes embarked on a 13-0 run before West’s Stewart hit a layup late in the half to cut the Lady Rebel deficit to 35-9.
West’s Ashlyn Stewart (4) looks for daylight against the Alcoa defense, as Gwen Carroll (23) and Katelyn Pitts (12) defend. Photo by Brian Hamilton
Bailey made a basket with under 10 seconds remaining before intermission to send the Lady Tornadoes to the half with a 39-9 lead.
Pfeiffer opened the second half with a layup to push the Alcoa lead to 41-9, but Jamiyah Williams would answer with a running floater for west to make the score 41-11.
Williams’ basket would be the only one for the Lady Rebels in the third quarter, as Alcoa outscored West 27-2 in the period, giving the Lady Tornadoes an insurmountable 66-11 lead heading into the final frame.
West would score once more in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Serenity Geiscer, but with a running clock throughout the final period, Alcoa would come away with a dominating 72-14 win.
Alcoa was well balanced offensively, as Amelia Pfeiffer led the way with 14 points, while freshman reserve Brylee Flatt finished with 11. Both Halle Bailey and Gwen Carroll also finished in double figures with 10 apiece. Ashlyn Stewart led West with five points.
Baumann spoke highly about the progress that point guard Bailey has made throughout the season.
“She’s a winner and she always makes plays for us, whether she’s scoring or not,” Baumann said. “The last three weeks, she’s been scoring a little bit more and we need that scoring to go along with Amelia. It’s been different people on different nights, but Halle has been becoming more consistent the last few weeks.”
Alcoa (10-6) will be back in action on Friday, January 6 at home against Austin-East (6-3), while West (0-12) will host Farragut (7-10) on Tuesday, January 9.