Three reasons Beech's girls edged Hendersonville

Beech’s girls basketball team withstood a late rally to come out on top against cross-town rival Hendersonville for a 51-48 victory.

Three things from Tuesday game:

Missed opportunity

Hendersonville (7-8 overall, 3-3 District 9-AAA) saw a game-winning opportunity come up short as Peyton Sheehan missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds. Beech guard Jana Claire Swafford missed two free throws with nine seconds remaining, which could have have clinched the game.

Beech won for the first time at Hendersonville since Jan. 27, 2012.

“I’ve been here for about five years and it’s been a while since we’ve beat Hendersonville at Hendersonville, so it’s a really good feeling,” Beech assistant coach Lauran Hudgins said. We’ve got a young group of girls, so for them to come in and get this accomplishment early in their four years is huge. We’ve been in back-to-back buzzer beater games, so they’re pretty calm now when it’s under ten (seconds) and the time’s running down.”

Digging out from a second-half hole

Hendersonville trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, but a 19-5 run between the third and fourth quarters pulled the Lady Commandos to within one (41-40). The spark came in part by eight fourth-quarter points from Chelsey Burton, including two 3-pointers.

“I hate to lose a ballgame like that because I felt like our girls worked really hard, especially in the second half after they had dug themselves into a hole,” Hendersonville head coach Drew Johnson said. “I thought we played really hard in the second half and if we can get that type of effort for 32 minutes we’ll be a much better basketball team.”

Beech finding its stride

McCall Decker and freshman Mia Dean led the Lady Bucs (10-9, 5-2) with 13 points apiece, carrying Beech to its fifth straight victory, each by five points or less. The win also puts Beech over the .500 mark for the first time after a tough opening stretch to the season.

“We played a tough, tough non-district schedule, and it’s paying off now,” Hudgins said. Taking some of those early losses that a lot of teams won’t take has given us a lot of game experience to endure some of these close games that we’ve been in.”

Despite the loss for Hendersonville, Johnson remains optimistic about the remainder of the season after his team’s performance to finish the game.

“I still think we’re one of the top two or three teams in the district,” Johnson said. “We haven’t always played like it this year, but the effort we gave in the second half gives me something to build on and we feel like we can do that going forward.