UPDATED: North Knox rallies to beat Eastern Greene

In a battle of Class 2A Sectional teams, North Knox outscored host Eastern Greene 31-18 in the second half as the Lady Warriors came away with a 52-40 victory in a high school girls basketball game Saturday afternoon.

Eastern Greene, who dropped to 1-13, led 22-21 at intermission.

"We knew going into be tough game," said Eastern Greene coach Dan Fidago. "They are well coached.

"(Caroline) Kirkwood) and (Ashlee) Primus are their primary focus offensively. Primus hit consecutive threes to put them up three at the end of the first quarter. They came right when we had a chance to take over the game."

Kirkwood connected on 13 of 17 free throws and finished with a game-high 22 points. Primus made five 3-pointers and shot 5-for-6 at the foul line as she tossed in 20 points.

North Knox (9-5) was 22 of 30 at the foul line, compared to 2 of 2 for the Lady Thunderbirds.

"We have to do a better job defensively," said Fidago. "We cannot put someone on the line 17 times and a team on the line 30 times. To their credit, they did a good job of making their free throws, which turned out to be the difference in the game."

Kaci Helms had 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots to pace the Lady Thunderbirds. Joni Crowe added nine points and eight rebounds.

Cora Sherfield was credited with seven assists, five rebounds and two points.

"I was really proud of the way the girls did not back down," said Fidago. "I was very, very pleased with their effort. We did a good job offensively scoring 40 points.

"But we have to do a better job of defending without fouling. Primus hit those big threes in the first quarter to get them going. We held them down in the second and third quarters. We missed some easy shots, but battled down the stretch. We have to learn to score. We are a heck of a lot better than 1-13. The girls realize this. When we get over the hump, we will be pretty tough."

Holly Hammock and Sam Reed both scored six points but EG lost the junior-varsity game 26-18.

The Lady T-Birds will be off until Thursday when they host Martinsville.

NORTH KNOX (52) -- Caroline Kirkwood 4 13-17 22, Jessica Wood 0 0-0 0, Emily Moreland 2 4-6 8, Hillary Merry 1 0-1 2, Ashlee Primus 5 5-6 20, Brooke Etmeier 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Freeman 0 0-0 0, Lauren Summers 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 22-30 52.

EASTERN GREENE (40) -- Tayla Fields 2 0-0 4, Caitlyn Frye 2 0-0 6, Kaci Helms 5 0-0 10, Joni Crowe 2 1 2-2 9, Holly Hammock 1 0-0 3, Cora Sherfield 1 0-0 2, Nikki Butler 1 0-0 2, Alexis Ray 2 0-0 4, Samantha Reed 0 0-0 , Brittany Igel 0 0-0 0, Mikayla New 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 2-2 40.

North Knox 15 6 9 22 -- 52

Eastern Greene 12 10 7 11 -- 40

3-pointers -- North Knox 6 (Primus 5, Kirkwood), Eastern Greene 4 (Frye 2, Crowe, Hammock). Fouls -- North Knox 9, Eastern Greene 19. Fouled out -- Frye.