CHMS TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM ANDALUSIA

The Charles Henderson Middle School Lady Trojans continued their strong season in a 30-14 dismantling of the Andalusia Bulldogs.

Mauri Davenport led the way for the Trojans, recording a triple-double with 12 points, 10 blocks and 14 rebounds.

The Lady Trojans started out strong cruising to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Andalusia could not find any holes in the Charles Henderson defense and were outmatched by the Trojans’ physical play in the post.

Andalusia was able to get on the board in the second quarter, but Davenport had her way with the Bulldog defense, putting up six points in the frame to power the Lady Trojans to a 14-6 lead at the break.

Charles Henderson came out of the break with the same intensity that they ended the half. The Lady Trojans held the Bulldogs without a point in the third quarter en route to a 22-6 lead.

The two teams traded buckets in the fourth quarter for a final of 30-14.

After the game, Charles Henderson coach Tara Davenport said she was proud of her team’s defensive effort. “We always practice against the high school girls’ team, and that gives us a lot of experience going up against great players,” Davenport said. “We practice the same defense over and over.”

With the win, the Lady Trojans move to 10-1 on the season. “We have only lots one game this season,” Davenport said. “I think it’s because our girls have been committed to wanting to learn the game of basketball.”

Despite the strong season, Davenport still sees room for improvement in her team. “I still need to work on calming them down on the court,” Davenport said. “Sometimes they get anxiety real quick when they’re out there. We need to teach them to calm down and play the game of basketball.”

In eight grade boys’ action, the Charles Henderson Trojans held off a late Andalusia rally to knock off the Bulldogs 30-27.

Things started well for the Trojans in the first quarter with five points from Jordan Dixon pushing the Trojans out to a 8-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Trojan offense continued to click in the second quarter as Charles Henderson rolled out to a comfortable 20-11 lead at the break.

The Trojans led by as much as 22-11 in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs began to cut in to the Trojan lead little by little with layups and free throws to trim the lead to 24-18 by the end of the third quarter.

With just over two minutes to play in the game, the Trojans held a 30-23 lead and seemed on their way to a victory. However, the Bulldogs had other plans. Two Andalusia free throws and a quick bucket slimmed Charles Henderson’s lead to 30-27.

Dixon paced the way for the Trojans with 13 points.

The Bulldogs brought the ball in to play with seven seconds left in the game, but a last-second three pointer clanked off the rim, and the Trojans escaped with a win.

Head coach Shelby Tuck said his team was able to win because of its strong team defense. “We knew we had to play defense to win this game,” Tuck said. “We placed all the emphasis on defense this week. We knew if we stopped them that we would have a good chance to win. We did a good job stopping them, but they killed us on second shots.”

Tuck said he does not blame the team for the poor rebounding performance. “As the coach, I take the blame for not emphasizing rebounds enough,” Tuck said. “We spent so much time working on defense that I think they didn’t think about rebounding after the shot sometimes.”

Tuck said the win over Andalusia was a big victory for his team. “I’m excited for the guys,” Tuck said. “We lost two close games this year—one in overtime and one by one point. It felt like the spirit of the team broke. The guys have fought to put the season back together, and it’s good to seem them bounce back like this. We’re 8-3 now, and we’re going to continue to work hard.”

In seventh grade boys’ action, a late Trojan rally fell just short in a 24-26 loss to Andalusia.