All season, the Elkmont High Lady Red Devils have been on the upswing.

But the addition of some young talent from the Limestone County Junior Girls Championship team is giving head coach Steve Bates some extra ammunition as the area tournament approaches.

As it has all during the Class 3A, Area 15 season, those additions paid dividends Tuesday night.

Freshman Bailee Robinson had an steal, an assist, two free throws and a key basket in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to lift Elkmont to a 42-39 win over Clements.

“She’s a smart player, but we’ve had others fill in when she didn’t fit the bill,” Bates said. “We’ve had other ones step up too.”

Robinson, who led the Lady Red Devils (11-17) with 12 points, sank a free throw with 4:51 to play to tied the game 33-33.

One minute later, she had a steal and fed Kasey Menefee for a go-head 3-pointer with 3:51 left.

Robinson added two free throws for a 38-33 lead, and drove down the left baseline for a basket and a 40-35 lead with 1:31 to play.

Menefee added another free throw, and junior Amber Harwell finished the game with a free throw with 18.5 seconds to play.

“Amber had a good game, and that was big for us,” Bates said. “She was aggressive tonight — more aggressive than she usually is.”

The Lady Red Devils led 9-8 after one quarter and 22-16 at halftime before the Lady Colts came back to tie the game 23-23 on Whitney Mooney’s basket with 2:45 left in the second quarter.

Harwell’s two free throws gave Elkmont a 30-27 lead and pushed the margin to 32-27 after Jamie Lack’s two free throws with 6:49 left in the game.

But Mooney, who led Clements with 14 points, scored six-straight to give Clements a 33-32 lead with 5:05 to play.

Harwell added 11 points, and Menefee added seven for Elkmont.

LaCresha Petty scored 11 points, and Laci Beth Ham scored 10 for Clements.

“We haven’t been able to sub all year because we’ve only had seven players,” Bates said. “Now we have the numbers so we can be more aggressive and not have to worry about foul trouble or getting tired.”



Boys’ Game

Clements 56, Elkmont 42

Gerard Robinson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to help the Colts gain a split of the competition with a 14-point boys’ win.

The Colts (13-14) led 16-4 after one quarter, and 28-19 at halftime before pushing their advantage to 48-29 after three quarters.

No other Clements player reached double figures.

Cody Arnold added eight points. Lavar Askins scored seven, and Titus Wright had six.

Blake Moore added eight rebounds for the Colts.

Tim Woolridge led Elkmont (6-21) with 12 points and six rebounds.

Wesley Guthrie added eight points and four rebounds. Darryl Smith and Tom Logan scored six points each.