Girls Basketball: Hughes helps Seminole coast

Kelsey Hughes nearly outscored the Greenwood Rangerettes by herself Monday.

The sophomore post had 20 points and seven rebounds to help the Seminole Maidens beat Greenwood 55-29 in Class 3A bi-district playoff game at the OC Sports Center.

“I was kind of nervous,” Hughes said. “But I was real focused and wanted to get this big win.”

Greenwood failed to surpass 20 points through the first 29 minutes, 18 seconds of the game.

Hughes, who had missed the previous three weeks with an ankle injury, scored the first eight points of the game and had five points in a 30-second span in the third quarter for Seminole (17-15 overall).

“She got off to a red-hot start, and she helped to open others up later,” Seminole coach Dickie Faught said. “We missed her terribly in district and lost a couple of close games where I think she would have been the difference. Luckily she came out and was ready to go.”

Seminole will play Pecos in an area playoff this weekend. The time, date and site have yet to be determined.

Greenwood (19-14) packed the middle to try and slow down Courtney Layton, Seminole’s 6-foot-1 post. That left Hughes open for layups and 10-foot jumpers.

Greenwood trailed just 11-8 at the end of the first quarter, but Seminole outscored the Rangerettes 12-2 in the second quarter and 21-6 in the third quarter.

Layton, who was quiet most of the first half, scored eight points in the second half. She finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds before hurting her knee with 2:08 left in the game, but she is expected to be ready to play for the area-round game.

“We made some adjustments on the press and were able to get some traps on the sidelines,” Faught said. “The third quarter was important. That’s what we talked about at halftime. They came out and put it away.”

Lara Lopez had 10 points for Seminole, while Linsey Hays had seven points and Danna Howard had three points and 12 rebounds for Greenwood.