Sports Writer

With the help of a stingy second-half defense, the Charles Henderson High School girls basketball team knocked off Andalusia, 37-26 Saturday.

Andalusia tied the game at 18 with 3:49 left in the third quarter, but the Lady Trojans held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless for the remainder of the quarter and used a 7-0 run to take a 25-18 lead. CHHS built the lead to 31-18 before the Lady Bulldogs scored its first field goal of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 11 with 2:21 left.

CHHS started sluggish, taking a 6-5 lead at the end of the first period, but Annie Daniels scored eight points in the second quarter to boost the Lady Trojans to a 14-10 halftime lead. Andalusia helped the cause by hitting 3-of-13 free throws in the first half.

"Sometimes we start off slow. I guess it takes them (the players) a little time to get warmed up and they get a little better, but they played good defense which took care of the offense," CHHS head coach Dyneshia Jones said.

Daniels lead the way with 11 points and Makelia Wingard added eight.

Slow starts were contagious as the CHHS boys fell into a 19-9 first quarter hole and couldn’t recover, losing to Andalusia, 50-32.

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 22-9 early in the second quarter, but the Trojans used a zone defense and baskets from Qua Davis and Lakory Daniels to cut the lead to 24-16 at intermission.

"Well, they had a good enough lead to stall on us and that’s what they’re going to do. If you switch to a zone, they’re going to pull it out and make you play man. They’re a more effective man-to-man team," CHHS head coach Carl Hollis said.

"We were supposed to be in a zone to start, I don’t know how we got into a man-to-man, that’s something they (players) did on their own, but it cost us."

The Trojans closed the gap to 24-21 on a three-point play by Daniels, but the Bulldogs proceeded to go on an 8-2 run to end the quarter with the help of numerous bad shots and turnovers by CHHS.

The Trojans shot 4-for-12 in the final period and committed five turnovers as the Bulldogs pulled away for the win.

"We pulled within three, but we did some stupid things after we pulled within three," said Hollis. "We came down and threw the ball away for no reason. We came down and take a three-point shot for no reason. When you have fought back within three, you need to sit on the ball awhile until you can get the shot you want."

Daniels scored 14 points in the losing effort and Davis added 10.

The Trojans B-team continued its winning ways with a 46-25 win over the Bulldogs. Javarick Givens paced the Trojans with 10 points.

The Lady Trojans moved to 6-3 with a 34-31 win over Eufaula Friday. Annie Daniels lead the way again for CHHS, scoring 16 points.

LaKory Daniels netted a game-high 27 point for the Trojans in a 69-60 win over Eufaula Friday. Davis contributed 12 points and seven rebounds as the Trojans upped its record to 9-5. Terrance Hooten played a solid all-around game for the Trojans, pouring in 11 points and grabbing five rebounds.

The CHHS B-team completed the sweep of Eufaula with 22-20 triumph. Martesi Carlisle, Joey Moultry and Ray Money each scored four points in the low-scoring affair.

CHHS plays host to Carroll-Ozark on Tuesday night.