CHHS comes back to beat Lady Cougars, 42-40

By KEVIN PEARCEY

Sports Editor

Makelia Wingard’s two-point basket with under a minute to play allowed the Charles Henderson Lady Trojans to hand Northview a 42-40 defeat on Friday night.

The win was the second in as many games against the Lady Cougars. CHHS (3-2) won another close contest 43-40 last weekend in Dothan.

"Last year we had a better squad and couldn’t even beat them (Northview). It’s odd," said CHHS head coach Dyneshia Jones. "But they (CHHS) did real good. They just decided they wanted to play better defense in the second half."

The Lady Trojans trailed for the entire game, but took advantage of a critical Northview mistake to take their first lead. Down 39-38 in the fourth with 1:57 left, CHHS’s Mary Gilbert was fouled on a three-point shot, sending her to the line. Gilbert sank two-of-three and the Lady Trojans went up 40-39.

It was the second time in the game that Northview had committed a foul on a CHHS player in the act of shooting a three-pointer. Point guard Annie Daniels hit three straight free throws in the final seconds of the first half to keep the Lady Trojans close at 19-18.

While Daniels led CHHS with 11 points in the game, it was her decision to give up the ball which gave the Lady Trojans the win.

With time running out in the final quarter, Daniels drove the baseline, drawing several Lady Cougar players toward her, and then dished the ball inside the lane to Wingard. Wingard made the shot uncontested.

CHHS’s Karla Hollis collected a rebound with 15 seconds remaining and was fouled. Hollis missed both foul shots and the Lady Cougars quickly charged the goal, missing two shots beneath the basket before Leigh Burton tried a desperation baseline jumper with one second left. The ball bounced off of the rim.

Northview’s Tamara Williams hurt CHHS the most in the first half, scoring 11 points.

"What we had to do was adjust the zone (defense) we were running," said Jones. "At halftime, I told them what they were doing wrong and we adjusted to it."

Williams was held to only four points in the second half, but guard Latoya Dyck was able to take up the slack, scoring 11 herself. She finished with 13 points.

The Lady Cougars used an 8-2 run in the third to build a 27-20 lead, but CHHS fought back. Wingard scored and then Hollis put a Gilbert miss back up for two-points. With ten seconds left in the quarter, Daniels tied the game with a basket, 29-29.

Gilbert had 10 points for CHHS and Wingard finished with nine.

The Lady Trojans played at Bullock County on Saturday night and will also be in Dothan next week for the Northview Holiday Tournament, which runs from Tuesday, Dec. 18 to Saturday, Dec. 22.