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closePublished: Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010 / Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 11:54 PM
Lady Trojans remain perfect against Clover
Northwestern’s run at perfection was not in doubt Tuesday as the Lady Trojans’ train rolled past Clover, 50-38.
With the exception of a pair of big runs the ride was a bit bumpy down the stretch but it’s still rolling, joked Northwestern coach John Bramlett.
The Trojans stifling defense forced three straight turnovers in the second quarter. The Clover miscues keyed a 9-2 run for Northwestern that quickly put them ahead 23-11 with 5:19 left before the half. The other run, a 12-2 spurt in the third, put the Trojans up 44-22 with 2:40 left in the quarter.
Xy’resha Isom led Northwestern with 17 points, including 14 in the first half. For the second straight game Amber Stewart scored in double figures. She chipped in 15 against the Blue Eagles.
The Trojans improved to 20-0 with the win, and with three games remaining coach John Bramlett urges his team to keep its focus.
Northwestern lacked just that in the fourth quarter. The Trojans only mustered four points-all coming from the charity stripe by Stewart.
“The girl’s know. We’ve got six seniors on this team and everyone were already in the locker room talking about it before I got in there,” Bramlett said. “They were talking about being focused, being strong mentally.”
Not willing to pack it in early, the injury plagued Blue Eagles stayed strong late. Their defense forced Northwestern into making careless passes and held the hot-handed Trojans to 0-8 from the field in the final session. Clover (4-17, 0-7 Region 3-AAAA) won the quarter 10-4.
“Our girl’s played with a lot of heart tonight, we got after it and did what we had to do,” said Sherer Hopkins. “We see improvement each game and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Logan Ballard and Bria Huffman led the Blue Eagles offensively as both reached double figures. The duo scored 12 and 11, respectively.
If Northwestern aims to keep its train rolling down the tracks, it must do those things of which the players talked about after the game, especially on Thursday night at York. Senior Kelia Stewart will not dress against the Cougars as she is suspended for teams rules violation until Tuesday.
Mychal Frost
NORTHWESTERN 50
CLOVER 38
Clover — Tonaya Pettus 4, Paige Ferguson 3, Imani Wood 8, Bria Huffman 11, Logan Ballard 12.
Northwestern — Mariah McCoy 5, Kalmia Blake 1, Shakaria Buckson 2, MC Faulkner 2, Xy’resha Isom 17, Amber Stewart 15, Savannah Jones 8.
| Clover | 6 | 12 | 10 | 10 | — | 38 |
| Northwestern | 13 | 17 | 16 | 4 | — | 50 |
Records: Clover 4-17, 0-7 Region 3-AAAA; Northwestern 20-0, 7-0
LANCASTER 52, ROCK HILL 39 — The Lancaster girls overcame a horribly slow start to breeze past Rock Hill.
The Bruins (8-9, 2-4 Region 4-AAAA) scored three points in the first eight minutes and then went on to outscore the Bearcats 34-15 in the middle two quarters. Tarah Tipton and Kyia Hough helped Lancaster score the final nine points of the first half. Almesha Catoe poured in 10 of her game-high 13 points in the second half.
“We just settled in and began attacking more,” Lancaster coach Ronnie Robinson said. “We wanted to get inside more and go to our strength.”
Tipton finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Hough, an eighth-grader playing point guard, chipped in 11.
It is been an up and down season for Lancaster. The region claims Spring Valley and that team is head and shoulders above the rest. Each region gets four playoff spots. Tuesday’s win kept the Bruins in the hunt.
“Ridge View is probably No. 2 in the region, then it evens out,” Robinson said. “We will be battling with South Pointe and Blythewood for the last two spots.”
Lancaster led by as many as 20 points, 41-21, in the fourth quarter. Rock Hill sped up the tempo of the game to cut the lead to 11 two times in the last three minutes.
Rock Hill (6-13, 1-5) is on the outside looking in for a playoff run. First-year coach Sean Thompson figures her team needs to win three of their last four to have a shot.
“We needed this one,” Thompson said after the game. “We had too many unforced turnovers and we didn’t play uptempo the way we’ve been trying to do.”
Karl Lyles
LANCASTER 52
ROCK HILL 39
LANCASTER — Kyia Hough 11, Almesha Catoe 13, Brittany McCarter 6, Tarah Tipton 12, DeQuana Jones 4, Eldrina McElwain 4, Chanda Nivens 1, Shaquandra Waters 1
ROCK HILL — Anna Greeley 8, Sabrina Brabham 12, Whitney Mitchell 9, Kenidra Young 1, Jasmine Curry 9
| Lancaster | 3 | 17 | 17 | 18 | — | 52 |
| Rock Hill | 5 | 8 | 7 | 19 | — | 39 |
Records: Lancaster 8-9, 2-4 Region 4-AAAA; Rock Hill 6-13, 1-5
YORK 45, FORT MILL 36 — In Fort Mill, a double-double by York High School’s Erika Shannon led the Lady Cougars over Fort Mill High 45-36 on Tuesday.
Shannon had 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Lady Cougars.
Fort Mill turned the ball over 26 times and had trouble stopping in the third quarter allowing them to quickly go up 24-17.
The Lady Jackets play tough to start the game and had a small 12-8 lead after the first quarter, but things fell apart in the second quarter.
Fort Mill scored just three points in the second quarter and turned the ball over 12 times as the hit just one of 10 shots.
York was able to catch back up to Fort Mill and took a small 17-15 lead at the half.
Mac Banks
YORK 45, FORT MILL 36
York — Erika Shannon 20, Brittany Merriweather 11, Ashanti Wilson 6, Gina Patton 4, Brittany Cannon 2, Hikeya Davis 2.
Fort Mill — Alexia Grevious 12, Jenna White 10, Hannah-Kate Christopher 5, Haley Bonner 5, Lisa Nichols 4.
| York | 8 | 9 | 18 | 10 | — | 45 |
| Fort Mill | 12 | 3 | 9 | 12 | — | 36 |
Records: York 11-7, 4-2 Region 3-AAAA; Fort Mill 6-13, 2-5
BLYTHEWOOD 37, SOUTH POINTE 29 — The Lady Stallions ended the contest in the midst of a severe drought with their final points coming on an Alisha Hope free throw with 4:11 remaining in regulation.
From that point, the Lady Stallions were unable to produce any more points.
“Our defense was good, but we were only 8-of-51 from the field,” South Pointe coach Brett Childers said. “We got after it, but there were a couple of little things which really cost us the game tonight.”
Irvin Goodwin
BLYTHEWOOD 37
SOUTH POINTE 29 (OT)
Blythewood — Kierra Brown 8, Bria Benson 4, Lashonda Canty 5, Aliyah Keels 5, LeAndra Culberton 15.
South Pointe — Timisty Nelson 2, Emily Searcy 6, Alisha Hope 19, Jasmine Wright 2.
| Blythewood | 7 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 8 | — | 37 |
| South Pointe | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | — | 29 |
Records: South Pointe 10-9, 2-4 Region 4-AAAA
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