By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – The Lady Blue Devils of Moody High School have had quite the season, getting runner-up in the Saint Clair County tournament to a red-hot Springville team. Despite that, the season has been really good for the 411 Girls, leading to the top seed and home court in the coming area tournament. Before that, the Blue Devils had business to attend to and they did not let the pressure of the impending tournament keep them from doing just that on Senior Night.
Moody had a massive first quarter, scoring 29 points. On defense, they held Vincent to just 6. Emma Kile could not be stopped as she scored 11 of those 29 points. Tori Pyles added 7 and Tarryn Woodall put up 5 of her own.
In the second quarter, the Blue Devils got help from several players who had points on the board, leading to a 14-point effort in the period. Pyles had 7 for the second consecutive quarter followed by 2 each from Kile, Makayla Russell, and Ryleigh Hodges. On defense, Moody would allow the Yellow Jackets to score 18 points. The Blue Devils would take a 43-24 lead into the break.
The third quarter would be somewhat similar to the second as Moody would be pretty consistent, scoring 11 points. Kendall Stephens would get in on the fun, putting up 5 points in the period to go with 3 from 7th grader Serenity Rutledge. The defense would allow Vincent to score 13 points to make it 54-37 heading into the final stanza of the game with Moody in the lead.
In the fourth quarter, Moody would outscore Vincent 13-10 to seal the win. Rutledge would score 6 more points in the period, followed by 4 from Pyles and 3 from Woodall.
The leading scorer on the night would be Tori Pyles with 21 points. Emma Kile would follow with 15 of her own and Serenity Rutledge would have 11.
“We played well in flashes,” said Moody coach Becca Davis. “There are still plenty of aspects of our game that need work. It was a quality win against an athletic Vincent team. We enjoyed getting to recognize and celebrate our seniors tonight.”
The Lady Blue Devils will play Pell City on Friday night before hosting the area tournament beginning Monday night.