The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs hosted the Huntland Lady Hornets in the District 8-A opener for both squads on a rainy Friday night in Cornersville.

The Lady Hornets, paced by 22 points from freshman Ashlyn Danley, easily handled the young Lady Bulldogs 59-23.

The youth and inexperienced Lady Bulldogs (2-11) are struggling against pressure defenses and turning the ball over.

Despite the learning curve the Lady Bulldogs are going through, Cornersville coach Martha Jane McMasters is staying positive, saying after the game, “They (the players) are learning to play with each other, we have only been playing together for four or five weeks, some of the eighth and ninth-graders have not played against this kind of competition before.”

Cornersville was led by eighth-grader Gracie Turner’s tough play inside, who knocked in nine points to lead the team in scoring.

“We have got to talk to each other and help each other,” Abbie Woodard said about facing the pressure defenses other teams are using against the Lady Bulldogs.

Huntland controlled the opening tipoff, but Turner grabbed a rebound off a missed shot and the Lady Bulldogs came down court.

A Lady Bulldog miss gave the ball back to Huntland and they were unable to score again, but another Turner rebound gave the rock back to Cornersville.

Before Cornersville could get down court, Danley stole the ball and laid it in the basket to put the Lady Hornets on the board first.

The full-court press employed by Huntland began to pay dividends on the next two Lady Bulldogs’ possessions as turnovers enabled Danley to pour in two more baskets to make the score 6-0.

The Lady Bulldogs responded with an inside basket by Turner, Woodard added a free throw, and a 3-pointer by Alicia Polk tied the game at six.

The Lady Hornets got another basket by Danley and Brooklyn Morris drilled two jumpers to make the score 12-6 when the horn sounded to end the first quarter.

Turner started the second quarter off well for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring from down low to make it a four-point game.

Danley quickly added two more baskets off a pair of Cornersville turnovers and finished the first half with 16 points.

Turner turned a three-point play for Cornersville, but the Lady Hornets hounded the Lady Bulldogs on defense and as is the case when things go well on defense, shots on offense start to fall.

AJ Stevenson added three points, Megan Tipps banged home a 3-pointer, and Morris hit a trey and two baskets before Danley scored twice more to give Huntland a 33-11 halftime lead.

The third quarter saw McMasters’ charges never give up, but it became the time for younger players to get a chance to play.

“I wanted the girls to play hard tonight and to play with heart. I felt we did that tonight. Lexi Warren will always do that,” McMasters said.

Jayli Childress, an eighth-grader, played well, Grayson Riner gained valuable playing time waiting for her time to come, and Anna Wood scored two points to give the Lady Bulldog faithful a glimpse of better days ahead.

Huntland (11-7) emptied their bench to also give players court time as they too look to build for the future.

Huntland 12 21 22 4-59

Cornersville 6 5 8 4-23

Huntland (59): Ashlyn Danley 22, Anna Stevenson 11, Brooklyn Morris 11, Megan Tipps 9, Mikaylie Edwards 2, Victoria Shultz 2, Diamond Tate 2

Three-Point Goals (6): Tipps 3, Stevenson 2, Morris.

Free Throws (5-for-8): Danley 4-for-4, Stevenson 1-for-2, Morris 0-for-2.

Cornersville (23): Gracie Turner 9, Alicia Polk 5, Abbie Woodard 3, Meri Hannah Walker 3, Anna Wood 2, Lexi Warren 1.

Three-Point Goals (2): Polk, Walker.

Free Throws (3-for-6): Woodard 3-for-6, Polk 4-for-6, Walker 1-for-2, Riner 0-for-2, Turner 1-for-6, Salsman 1-for-2.

Halftime Score: Huntland 33, Cornersville 11.