The Charles Henderson Lady Trojans advanced to the semifinals of the Hoover Big Orange Basketball Tournament by defeating Oak Mountain 47-31 on Wednesday morning.

The win improves their record to 11-0 on the year and they will advance to play in the semifinals on Thursday.

“We looked pretty good today,” said Trojans head coach Dyneshia Jones. “It was a close game; we were only up by a point throughout the game so it was a close game.”

Thanks to some key outside shooters and force in the paint, Oak Mountain was able to drive the lane and kept things close with the Trojans.

“They were running the dribble drive offense against us,” Jones said. “It was kind of hard to adjust to that. They had a great shooter on the team, so we had to adjust to that at halftime.”

The Trojans were able to step up their defense by putting pressure on the Oak Mountain Shooters in the second half and were able to pull away.

“We played one of the girls a little tighter than normal and we were able to play better in the second half,” Jones said.

Being able to adjust at halftime has been important for the Trojans in the first two rounds of the tournament. In round one, the Trojans scored 15 first half points and led 15-7 before scoring 33 second half points on their way to a 48-22 win.

“It’s very important,” Jones said. “That is hard to do during just a 30 second timeout. At halftime you’re able to talk with them in a quiet setting.”

For the second game in row, Tatyana Siler led the Trojans with 17 points.

“She is a key player on the team,” Jones said. “Most of the time, teams are going to try and stop Maori (Davenport) from shooting. She is a great player, you just don’t hear about her as much.”

Davenport and Niaira Jones both scored 14 points with Davenport also having 14 rebounds and five assists.

The Trojans hope that defeating a 7A school will give them confidence heading to the semifinals this afternoon.

“It’s going to give us a lot of confidence,” Jones said. “Winning in general and overcoming obstacles gives you confidence. We are ready for anything, but winning is always good.”

The Trojans will participate in the semifinals against an opponent still to be determined beginning at 12:30 p.m.