Sports Editor

Although Barbour County High School

ran over most of their competition last season enroute to a Class 2A State Championship, the Charles Henderson Trojans had the Jaguars’ number.

CHHS swept the Jags in four games last year.

But that all changed on Tuesday night in Troy.

The fifth-ranked Jaguars built a 27-19 halftime lead and held off a CHHS third quarter rally to win, 70-56.

CHHS falls to 10-6 with the loss.

BCHS’s Michael Blackmon opened the third quarter by converting a three-point play. The two teams exchanged baskets for much of the period, before the Jags took off on a 7-0 run to build a 19-point lead.

The Trojans fought back, though.

Lakory Daniels started things off with a three-pointer. Freshman Quavian Lewis came off of the bench to provide an inside spark, going three-of-four from the foul line. Qua Davis dropped in a two-pointer and Daniels added another basket right before the end of the quarter.

Down 46-37 at the start of the fourth, Lewis scored on a layup and the Trojans were trailing by just seven points, 46-37.

The Jaguars, however, weren’t about to fold.

Starting at 6:44 left in the final period of play, Barbour County outscored CHHS, 17-9, before Davis and Daniels combined for two straight baskets late in the fourth quarter.

Richard Mitchell led BCHS with 16 points in the game.

Daniels had 24 points to lead CHHS, while Davis had 16. Lewis had 11 off of the bench for the Trojans.

In varsity girls action, the Lady Trojans sustained two big early runs by Barbour County -even taking a seven-point lead early in the second half-before falling 69-61 to the sixth-ranked Lady Jaguars.

Down 13-4 in the first, the Lady Trojans fought their way back into it, thanks in large part to consecutive three-pointers by Annie Daniels and two three-point plays by Makelia Wingard.

CHHS was down just 20-19 following the first quarter.

BCHS opened with another big run in the second, 14-3. But the Lady Trojans closed out the half with a 10-2 run of their own to stay close at 36-32.

Early in the third it was all Lady Trojans.

Wingard got an offensive board and putback, and followed that with another three-point play at the line. Karla Hollis’s basket with 6:47 left gave CHHS its first lead of the game, 39-38. Latofia Barnes hit two driving layups to give the Lady Trojans a 47-40 lead.

But the Lady Jags had all the time they needed.

BCHS put together a 13-1 scoring spurt to claim the lead for good.

Daniels had 20 to lead the Lady Trojans. Wingard added 16 and Barnes had nine points.

CHHS girls team is now 7-4 on the season.

CHHS is next in action on the road at Andalusia on Friday night.