LADY HORNETS LOSE IN ROUND 3

LADY HORNETS LOSE IN ROUND 3

BY: CRYSTAL “CRISSY” DANIELS

            “They’re big.  We just couldn't handle their post players.”  Pelham High School Lady Hornets head coach, Antonia Tookes said of the Laney High Lady Wildcats, of Augusta, GA…and big they were.  The post players of Laney stand at the heights of 6’ 3”, 6’ 3” and 6’ 2”, with another big coming off the bench standing 6’ 0”.  Pelham’s tallest player, Timbreanna Hudson, is 6’ 0”. 

            The Lady Hornets season came to an end in the Elite 8, losing to Laney, 59-40.  Pelham put up a fight but Laney’s post players proved to be too much for the Lady Hornets.  Pelham opened up the game with Hilary Williams getting fouled.  She hit both free throws giving the Lady Hornets a 2-0 lead.  That was the only lead Pelham would see all night.  The Lady Wildcats of Laney went on a 7-0 scoring run within the next 2 minutes.  Pelham kept it close in the 1^st quarter and was only down by three to end the 1^st quarter, 14-11.     

            Laney’s dominating post players took over the game.  They went on a 18-8 scoring run in the 2^nd quarter, to bring the 1^st half to an end with a 13 point lead.  32-19 was the score going into halftime.

            The 3^rd quarter opened up with the Lady Hornets driving to the basket and causing the Lady Wildcats to get into foul trouble.  Making their free throws would have kept Pelham in the game, but they missed 18.  Briunna Freeman wowed the cantankerous crowd by skying to get rebounds, blocking shots and sprinting from one end of the court to the other end to make a basket.

            The 4^th quarter went back and forth, with both the Lady Hornets and the Lady Wildcats trading baskets.  Pelham couldn't cut into Laney’s lead.  59-40 was the score with Laney winning moving on toward to the Final Four.  Two of their powerhouse post players finished with 16 points apiece.  Freeman led the Lady Hornets with 20 points, while Hudson put 13.  Williams for Pelham had 4 points and Annie Franklin finished with 3.

            The Lady Hornets finished the season with a winning record of 26-5.  Tookes told her team, “I’m proud of them and to stay positive.  It’s only going to get better for the Lady Hornets.”