Smith leads Tunstall girls against Chatham

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CHATHAM — Kelsey Smith would smile each time she got position on a Chatham post player, putting her hand up for a lob pass. More often than not, when she got the pass with position, she made sure to score.

The Tunstall junior forward scored a game-high 22 points, including eight in the second quarter when the Trojans built a big lead, and Smith came through with big baskets in the fourth quarter as Tunstall (3-0) held off a feverish Chatham rally to win 48-43 Tuesday night in the second meeting between the two Pittsylvania County schools this season.

Smith scored on an array of inside moves and even took a defensive rebound and raced up court for an easy basket in the second quarter. Her hustle and scoring — she scored 10 of the Trojans’ 16 second-half points — helped keep Tunstall undefeated.

“She’s had it all the time,” Tunstall coach Matt Beard said. “This year, she knows she’s got some help. She can go as aggressive as she wants to.”

Smith’s points came through as Chatham (0-3) used swarming defense to cut a 16-point deficit late in the second quarter to as close as three, 46-43, with 90 seconds left in the game. Tunstall was able to ice it with a couple of free throws in the final seconds.

“We let then take a game in our house that we shouldn’t have done,” Chatham coach Mike Richardson said. “That’s the way we feel.”

Richardson’s main point to his team after the game was to play with the same intensity at the beginning as his girls do at the end. The Cavaliers came out flat to open the game, hitting only two shots in the first seven minutes. Vickie Randolph hit her first of four 3-pointers at the end of the quarter to give Chatham some life.

Randolph, who finished with a team-high 15 points, sank two more 3’s in the second quarter to keep Chatham within striking distance. She got some help from Erin Eaton, who scored seven of her nine points in the fourth-quarter rally.

Tori McKenzie added seven points for the Cavaliers, including five points in a six-point run that brought the deficit to three.

Taylor Dix scored nine points for Tunstall and Monisha Manns added eight.

“It wasn’t pretty I told (the girls),” Beard said. “We tried to force too many things and they played good defense. They played hard. We usually out-hustle the other teams we play. Tonight we got out-hustled.”

Tunstall 48, Chatham 43
Tunstall (3-0)
Dix 3 2-3 9, Dillion 2 0-0 4, Millard 0 0-0 0, Bowling 1 0-2 3, Smith 10 2-7 22, Van Asch 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Scearce 1 0-0 2, Manns 3 2-6 8, Harris 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-18 48.
Chatham (0-3)
Goolsby 1 0-0 2, McKenzie 2 2-3 7, Ricketts 0 0-0 0, Eaton 3 2-2 9, Millie Walker 2 0-2 4, Randolph 5 1-2 15, Mariah Walker 3 0-3 6, Clarridge 0 0-0 0, Coder 0 0-0 0, Snead 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-12 43.
Tunstall 13 19 8 8 - 48
Chatham 7 12 11 13 - 43
3-point goals: Randolph 4, Dix, Bowling, McKenzie, Eaton. Fouled out: None.
Next: Gretna at Tunstall, 7:30 p.m. tonight; Martinsville at Chahtam, 7:30 p.m. tonight.