Feet give themselves a Christmas present

Baylor Bishop scores under the basket for Webb. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Webb Middle finished up the 2007 portion of their basketball schedule by handily defeating Middle Tennessee Christian Middle 40-23 in Bell Buckle.

"It's great to go into the break with a victory," said Feet coach James Garcia, whose team is now off till they trip to Liberty Middle on Jan. 7.

Webb (9-5) wasted little time putting the Cougars (1-12) on the mat, scoring 15 of the game's first 17 points thanks in part to another solid performance by eighth grader Cham Cham Quao.

"Cham Cham did a good job of setting the tempo and getting some points on the board," Garcia said. "Baylor (Bishop) had a pretty good first half of getting rebounds defensively. They didn't get a lot of open shots. We kept them off the glass."

Quao outscored MTC himself by netting 28 points.

The Feet entered the half up 23-6 before the Cougars trimmed their deficit to 11 in the third period. However, that rally was short-lived.

"We made some key plays in the third quarter to crush any momentum they had," Garcia said.

Webb carried a 31-16 lead into the final frame.

Kip Kahler paced MTC with eight points.

Middle Tennessee Christian 41, Webb 29 (G): Tip-off was an hour later than game officials planned due to a miscommunication with the referees, but once things got underway, fans at the Barton Athletic Center were treated to a half of back-and-forth roundball.

Tayla Hyatt tries to find the grip on the ball between a pair of MTC defenders. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Webb guard Karly Grissom broke a contagious cold streak for both sides with a bucket 2:05 into the game.

"Both of us came out kind of sluggish," Lady Feet coach Ricky Dycus said.

A free throw by Tayla Hyatt 5:38 before halftime tied the game at 6-all before the Lady Cougars (14-2) responded with an 8-0 run.

Grissom's field goal 9 seconds prior to the break narrowed MTC's advantage to 18-13 but the hosts never threatened again.

"They're a very good team," Dycus said of his foes. "They're fun to watch but tough to play against."

The girls from Murfreesboro entered the fourth quarter up 33-17.

A 3-pointer by Kat Coffey meant Webb outscored the Lady Cougars 12-8 in the last frame, but it was too little too late.

"We're progressing and heading in the right direction," said Dycus, who noted his guards are helping to get the post players more involved. "We just need a few more bullets in the gun and we'll be OK."

Dycus and his staff now enter Christmas break on pins and needles in hopes that the team at least maintains their progress to this point with 31 days between games.

"That's a big fear of mine, how we're going to do coming off of that (break)," he said. "I've tried to schedule practice, but it's very tough because the kids go everywhere.

"If we have to start over in January from scratch, then it's going to be tough. If we pick up like we're headed now, and don't lose any steam, then we'll make a little run in the (Bedford County) tournament.

"I don't know if we can win the tournament, but people will know we're there. That's our whole objective right now, for people to know that we're not a joke."