Meadow Heights struggles against Oak Ridge as turnovers prove costly

Meadow Height High School’s girls basketball team lost 73-41 to Oak Ridge in a BCS Tri-County Girls Basketball Conference Tournament game played at Woodland. Hosted by Oak Ridge, the tournament was moved to Woodland for Jan. 14 due to a scheduling issue at Oak Ridge.

The Panthers were outscored in every quarter, falling behind 13-7 after the opening quarter and 37-15 at halftime following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the Bluejays’ Jayleigh Price well behind the top of the key.

Meadow Heights’ Jaycee Shelton contributed a team-high 18 points in the loss while teammate Rylann Yamnitz finished with 15 points, including converting 4-of-6 free throws. Shelton was 4-for-5 from the foul line and made six field goals — four inside the arc and two more from distance — as the Panthers fell to 5-6 this season.

Additional Meadow Heights scorers were Maci Long (six points) and Madison Bess who hit a pair of free throws in the third quarter.

The Bluejays held a 31-14 advantage in made field goals, though the Panthers edged Oak Ridge on converted 3-pointers (3-1). Meadow Heights was 10-for-14 at the foul line.

Oak Ridge (6-6) outscored Meadow Heights in every quarter, though the Panthers fared better in the third, as the Bluejays only had a 24-20 advantage. Shelton and Yamnitz combined for 16 of Meadow Heights’ 20 points in that quarter as Oak Ridge took a 61-35 lead into the final quarter.

The Panthers were 13-for-45 from the floor while Oak Ridge made 31 of 68 field goal attempts. Meadow Heights had its best shooting quarter in the second (4-for-7), though seven turnovers prevented more shot attempts.

Meadow Heights took an early 2-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game as Maci Long made a field goal and got a chance at a three-point play. Oak Ridge responded with an 8-0 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes. The Panthers’ Jaycee Shelton ended the run after hauling in an offensive rebound and scoring with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter. That cut the Bluejays lead to 8-4. Shelton added a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get the Panthers’ within 11-7.

Oak Ridge began the second quarter on a 12-2 run, taking a 25-9 lead after a basket by senior Reagan Howe.

Meadow Heights got baskets from Maci Long and Shelton to stop the Bluejays’ run but then Oak Ridge closed the half on a 12-2 run to build more of a cushion.

“We were playing better earlier in the year than what we are now,” Meadow Heights head coach Tim Winkler said. “I think earlier in the season, starting three freshmen, some people thought we were going to be fairly easy to beat. We kind of snuck up on some people. We’re not sneaking up on anybody now. We just turned the ball over way too much, missed too many easy shots.”

Meadow Heights committed 21 turnovers to 12 for Oak Ridge.

“We’ve been trying to play some zone (defense) but I consider that an experiment that’s failed and we just keep playing man to man (defensively),” Winkler said. “We were playing that better earlier in the year so we’ve got to get back to that. Part of the problem is the lack of practice with the weather.”