It was in doubt until the final buzzer sounded, but the Charles Henderson Lady Trojans earned their fourth straight trip to the South Regional tournament with a 55-54 win over the Greenville Lady Tigers last night.

After trailing for most of the second half, the Tigers pulled to a 48-48 tie with 2:45 to play in the game and then took the lead with a basket by Nikia Powell.

However, the Lady Trojans wouldn’t trail for long.

On the next trip down the court, Niara Shipman hit a three-pointer to give Charles Henderson a 51-50 lead.

That one-point difference set the stage for no fewer than four lead changes in the last minute of the game.

Greenville could have tied the game or taken the lead, but the Tigers missed several key free throws in the waning seconds.

GHS had a last-gasp chance to win after the Lady Trojans missed a free throw with 2.9 seconds left, but the Lady Tigers could not advance the ball down the court before the horn sounded.

“I’m very proud of them,” CHHS head coach Dyneshia Jones said. “It was a close game, and we made our shots.”

The Lady Trojans struggled in the early part of the game, trailing 13-11 after the first quarter and 24-21 at halftime, but Jones said the team was able to adjust.

“At halftime, I told them to keep their heads up,” she said. “We had our shots in the first half, but we were just missing them.

“I told them that we had to work on penetrating and getting closer to the basket. We made that adjustment, and that was the boost we needed.”

That boost helped the Lady Trojans lead by as many as seven points in the second half, and 36-34 after three quarters.

Leading the way for Charles Henderson offensively were Niara Shipmon and Erica Henderson, who scored 22 and 20 points, respectively.

Now the Lady Trojans get a chance to rest and prepare for the regional tournament. The Lady Trojans play Feb. 17 at noon and at press time their opponent was not decided.

“Now it’s time to take it one game at a time,” Jones said.