The Daily Times

Coming off a loss at Knoxville West on Tuesday and since having learned that do-it-all junior forward Haley Talbott was lost for the season were not an ideal precursors to Friday night’s vital district matchup for William Blount against Lenoir City.

And until the 6:10 mark of the fourth quarter, it appeared as though the Lady Govs might falter and subsequently allow the Lady Panthers to jump ahead of them in the district 4-AAA standings.

But Amber Click’s 3-pointer at that juncture brought WB back within 2 and ignited a 9-0 run spanning five minutes that propelled the host Lady Govs to a 40-37 win after Karn Steill’s potential game-tying trey missed the mark at the buzzer.

Lenoir City, which dropped to 5-8 in district play with the loss, was held to one field goal in the final quarter until Hayley Morris’s 3-pointer with under a minute to play.

Click followed Morris’s bucket by knocking down a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining, forcing Lenoir City to go for the trey on its final possession.

“The big thing was just turning up the defensive intensity and starting to figure out our assignments, doing the things we were supposed to do,” WB coach Todd Wright told The Daily Times. “We were where we needed to be in order to pick up stops and that was big.”

Click, a sophomore, and freshman Lindsey Roddy combined to score 22 for the Lady Govs in Talbott’s absence.

“We definitely expected the other kids to step up,” Wright said. “That’s what happens when somebody goes down, everybody else has got to step up.”

Added Wright: “Overall it was a great team effort and I’m proud of all the girls top to bottom.”

The win wraps up WB’s regular season district with the Lady Govs at 7-7. The final final tune-up before district tournament play for WB will come next Saturday against Alcoa.

William Blount 70, Lenoir City 59

Late in the fourth quarter, with the outcome all but secure, the Lenoir City student section chanted “Let’s play football.”

The “Blue Crew,” WB’s student section retorted, “scoreboard, scoreboard, scoreboard.”

When it was all said and done, the scoreboard read William Blount having captured its third district win of the season with a 70-59 win over visiting Lenoir City.

But it didn’t tell the whole story.

The story Friday night at Marvin L. Boring Gymnasium was Austin Haworth.

William Blount’s junior point guard poured in 18 points, including 11 in the first quarter as his team fended off their coach Kevin Windle’s former employer.

Haworth couldn’t remember the last time scored 11 in a quarter.

“Maybe when I was little,” suggested Haworth. “But not in high school ball, that’s for sure.”

With Lenoir City rallying late in the third quarter, Haworth experienced another once in a career type of moment.

WB’s Jaden Bailey emphatically rejected a shot from the Panther’s Jordan Hall and the ball trickled towards half-court as the final seconds of the quarter trickled away.

Haworth sprinted, scooped up the ball, took one step past the mid-court line and fired up a high-arching shot that found nothing but net and extended the WB lead back to 10.

The play rejuvenated the Governors who had allowed LC to creep within a basket during the frame.

Before fouling out with just over two minutes left, Haworth nailed another trey while being knocked back into the “Blue Crew” that once again extended WB’s lead to 10.

From there his teammates held on for the win.

Windle suspected part of the reason for Haworth’s performance, which consisted of five triples, was attributable to the presence of his great-grandmother.

“She’s 95 years old and has been pretty sick,” Windle said. “She got healthy and came to the game and we’ve got her a seat here on the side.”