WILMINGTON – Maybe it’s a little presumptuous to compare the games between the Laney and Ashley girls basketball teams to Frazier vs. Ali, or Alabama vs. LSU, or even Duke vs. North Carolina, but the one certain thing you’ll get is a hard-fought battle much like those previously mentioned, and the championship game of the Leon Brogden Holiday Tournament did little to dissuade that thought.
Junior Felecity Havens earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors with a championship effort that included 20 points and seven rebounds, and her Lady Screaming Eagle teammates were clutch down the stretch from the charity stripe with a 9-for-13 fourth-quarter effort as Ashley held off Laney 39-37 on Saturday in the tournament championship game in UNC-Wilmington’s Trask Coliseum.
The battle for third place also came down two county rivals with Hoggard sophomore Julia Buehler leading all scorers with 17 points in sparking the Lady Vikings to a 48-37 win over New Hanover – a game also played in Trask Coliseum.
Ashley vs. Laney
It was the second straight holiday tournament title for the Lady Screaming Eagles (8-3) as they held off a frantic comeback attempt over the final 1:16 of the game in handing Laney (9-1) its first loss of the year.
The first half ended with Ashley grasping to a 10-8 lead, but both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter before the Lady Screaming Eagles used a quick 13-6 spurt to start the third quarter in jumping out to a 35-26 lead with 76 ticks left on the game clock.
“That’s typical when we play Laney, single digits until halftime and in the second half the scoring picks up,” Ashley Coach Adrienne Gale said. “I’m glad we got that lead and made it hold up. We shot free throws so much better in the second half (11-for-16), and that was huge for us.”
“This is huge. I don’t remember any girls team winning back-to-back (holiday tournament) titles in the 12 years I’ve been at Ashley. It’s a stepping stone, something we wanted to accomplish in our season, and I see it as taking a huge step forward heading into the new year.”
Ashley wouldn’t have gotten the chance to celebrate if not for the efforts of Havens, especially in the second and third quarters. After a two-point first period, Havens scored five of Ashley’s seven points in the second period, then took over the offense in the third period with nine of the Lady Screaming Eagles’ 12 points.
“It was the halftime talk,” Havens said. “We knew they were going to come out harder and Coach told us what we needed to do, and we executed. I took what they gave me and they continued to give me room so I took advantage of it.”
Havens couldn’t stop beaming as she held the MVP hardware close at hand.
“It’s the biggest trophy I’ve ever gotten, and it’s an honor. I felt like Lebron (James) when he got his MVP trophy, he kissed it, and so did I. This is a big win, and it feels great to win the tournament a second-straight time but it’s one win over very good team.
“It means we have to work harder because we know they will work twice as hard to beat us next time we play. We need to get back to practice and continue to get better.”
The win was in doubt up to the end as Laney, down by nine (35-26) with 1:36 left, used a 9-3 run to get to within one at 38-37 with 34.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Each team frittered away a chance before Ashley senior Ingrid Jackson made one of two free throws with 6.7 seconds to go. A wild last-ditch shot by Laney fell short.
“I wasn’t surprised by the first half at all,” Laney Coach Sheri Tynes said. “Both teams focus on defense and for us it’s big part of who we are. With our offense struggling early it was our defense that kept us in it and put us in position to make the run at the end.
“When these two teams get together we push each other to the limit, and we make each other better. We came out on the short end this time but I thought it was a heck of a game.”
Havens was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Breanna Edwards as well as Laney’s Amber Doniere, Hoggard’s Julia Buehler, and New Hanover’s Kapria Pressley.
Both teams jump right into the Mideastern Conference wars after the turn of the year. Laney is at home next Friday as they welcome Hoggard to the Michael Jordan Gymnasium.
Ashley is also at home on Friday as they play host to the Lady Rampants of J. H. Rose.
Ashley 3-7-12-17=39
Laney 7-1-14-15=37
Ashley: Breanna Edwards 2 4-8 8, Ingrid Jackson 1 2-4 4, Kaili Rich 2 1-1 5, Felecity Havens 8 4-5 20, Jasmine Corbett 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 13-20 39. 3-Point Baskets: None.
Laney: Tiana Edwards 1 1-1 3, Brianna Baham 2 1-4 5, Paulette Addison 1 1-4 3, Hannah McLendon 0 0-2 0, Bailey Edwards 1 0-0 2, Kelli Gottry 2 0-0 6, Chelsea Godette 1 0-0 2, Amber Doniere 6 2-4 14, Charlene Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 5-15 37. 3-Point Baskets: Kelli Gottry 2.
Hoggard vs. New Hanover
Hoggard (4-7) forced 12 New Hanover turnovers in the first half (26 for the game) in jumping out to leads of 14-7 after one period and 26-15 at the intermission, and they never let the Lady Wildcats (7-5) get any closer than nine points the rest of the way in finishing third in the tournament.
Both teams fielded young teams but youth was better served for the team wearing the visitors’ blue uniforms as sophomore Julia Buehler scored 17 points – 11 in the first half as the Lady Wildcats built their lead – and freshman Emma Haywood came off the bench to score nine of her game-total of 10 points in the first 16 minutes, and those two youngsters were buoyed by the senior leadership of Ellen Tootoo (3 points) and Sarah Downing (7).
“Right now I’m pretty happy, we played much better than yesterday on both offense and defense,” Hoggard Coach Boubacar Aw said. “They’re starting to figure out what we want them to do. We weren’t perfect but we did a better job.
“We are very young and I know I have to be patient. I told the girls before the season our strength was going to be on defense, and offensively on any given night we can have a different leading scorer.”
New Hanover Coach Vertha Dixon-Wright has been emphasizing all season that she needed to find someone to handle the ball at the point-guard position, and the combination of youth and inexperience at that position proved to be the Lady Wildcats’ downfall once again.
“I don’t know what happened, we simply did not come ready to play today,” Dixon-Wright said. “Kapria (Pressley) had a tough night and when she is off our job becomes that much tougher.
“We had too many turnovers again and that’s something we need to get better at, and quickly.”
The Lady Vikings will travel to Laney on Friday after the New Year break. New Hanover will begin play in the Mideastern Conference on the same night when they welcome the Lady Bears of New Bern to Wilmington.
Hoggard 14-12-14- 8=48
NHHS 7- 8- 9-13=37
Hoggard: Ellen Tootoo 1 1-2 3, Kyshonee Davis 0 2-6 2, Julia Buehler 6 3-4 17, Ashlee Willoughby 2 0-1 4, Brianna Smith 0 2-6 2, Aleah Thompson 0 0-2 0, Sarah Downing 3 1-4 7, Zoe Montague 0 1-2 1, Emma Haywood 2 6-7 10, Maddie Crompton 1 0-2 2. Totals: 14 16-32 48. 3-Point Baskets: Julia Buehler 2, Sarah Downing 2.
New Hanover: Precious Canty 0 1-2 1, Tanasia Toomer 3 0-0 9, Grace Cameron 3 0-0 8, Kapria Pressley 4 5-8 13, Sarah Jonkheer 1 0-2 2, Alexandria Simons 1 2-2 4. Totals: 12 8-14 37. 3-Point Baskets: Tanasia Toomer 3, Grace Cameron 2.
Ravenscroft vs. Conway (S.C.)
Cailin Dorsey scored 17 points – inclusive of a 10-for-12 effort from the free-throw line – to lead Ravenscroft (7-6) of Raleigh to a 35-23 win over Conway (1-9) in the seventh-place game.
The Lady Ravens used a stingy defense to limit the Lady Tigers to a total of eight field goals (seven twos, and a trey) over the full 32 minutes. Briana Steele, Aliyah Alston, and Janecia Hemingway each had four points for the Lady Tigers.
Ravenscroft 12-10- 6-7=35
Conway 5- 4-10-4=23
Ravenscroft: Elle Stumpo 1 1-10 3, Anna Colawn 1 0-0 2, Cailin Dorsey 3 10-12 17, Alexis Hunter 1 2-3 5, Nandi Traywick 1 0-1 2, Amanda Fedricksen 2 0-0 4, Liz Gulden 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 13-26 35. 3-Point Baskets: Cailin Dorsey 1, Alexis Hunter 1.
Conway: Aliyah Alston 0 3-7 3, Briana Steele 1 2-4 4, Ashiera Williams 1 0-0 2, Tierra Spain 1 1-2 3, Asia Alston 2 0-0 4, Zakera Chadmon 1 0-2 3, Janecia Hemingway 2 0-0 4. Totals: 8 6-15 23. 3-Point Baskets: Zakera Chadmon 1.
