You can watch the game of basketball for a long time and not see the type of comeback that occurred Saturday on the final day of the Cape Fear Academy Holiday Basketball Tournament in the Hurricanes’ facility on South College Road.
Trailing 49-31 after three periods, the Lady Trojans employed a full-court press that resulted in 11 Coastal Christian turnovers, and junior Leilani Emile scored 25 of her team’s 28 fourth-quarter points while the defense was limiting the Lady Centurions to just two free throws as West Brunswick defeated Coastal Christian 59-51 in a girls non-conference game.
The comeback was helped along by the loss by the Lady Centurions of their two best players – senior Lauren Duncan, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter with 22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals and a blocked shot, and junior point guard Madison Huckabee, who injured an ankle in the first period.
“When Lauren went out with the five fouls, and with Maddie hurt, that’s our best two players and our best two ball-handlers, and we just couldn’t overcome it,” said Coastal Christian Assistant Coach James Smith. “Once they (West) got on a roll it went progressively downhill. We had a couple chances to close it out in the final period but we missed some layups. Had we gotten them we might have been able to stick it out.”
Emile hit two straight shots to open the fourth quarter, allowing her team to close the 18-point (49-31) third-period deficit to 14. Coastal sophomore Sabrina Huckabee made a free throw to up the ante to 50-35 with 6:12 to go in the game but that would be the last point the Lady Centurions would score until Madison Huckabee made a charity toss with 2:10 remaining.
Over that 4:02 second span Emile scored 21 more points with a free throw by Bre’ Small at the 5:54 mark and a pair of free throws by Deja Jones at the 2:16 mark interrupting Emile’s amazing single-handed effort. Emile finished the game with 33 points and 14 rebounds one day after helping the Lady Trojans secure a 61-43 win over host Cape Fear Academy on Friday with 17 points and 10 boards.
“I can’t stand losing and I really wanted to win,” Emile said. “I just felt we had to win. I was in position where I was getting a lot of rebounds and I was able to put the shots back in. I’m always down there (under the boards) and it’s just a really good feeling to do that and help my team.”
Duncan was the main catalyst with nine points as Coastal Christian (6-6) raced out to a 15-9 first-period lead that materialized into a 29-20 advantage at the break. Sims had eight points at halftime and picked up the slack when Duncan went to the bench with three fouls in the third period by scoring seven more points in the stanza as the Lady Centurions build what appeared to be a comfortable 49-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the contest.
“We went full court and started playing good basketball and we got some steals and some quick, easy baskets, and it started to snowball from there,” West Brunswick Coach Mark Jones said. “We were fortunate to win today, and I just wish we could play the entire four quarters like we did that last one.
“Leilani did an amazing job–all the girls did–but Leilani really took us on her shoulders. I am really proud of the way we played after that first day (a 60-39 loss to unbeaten Harrells Christian academy on Thursday).”
The Trojans travel to New Hanover on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and head to Hoggard for another conference tilt on Friday, Jan. 10.
Coastal Christian plays Cape Fear Academy at home on Tuesday then heads on the road to Carolina Friends.
West Brunswick 9-11-11-28=59
Coastal Christian 15-14-20-2=51
West Brunswick: Bre’ Small 0 3-6 3, Yana Bland 1 3-6 5, Deja Jone 2 1-8 5, Kaitlyn Bellamy 0 0-6 0, Leilani Emile 14 4-8 33, McKenzie Williams 3 6-6 13, Britnee Taylor 0 0-2 0. Totals: 20 17-42 59. 3-Point Baskets Leilani Emile 1, McKenzie Williams 1.
Coastal Christian: Lauren Duncan 8 6-11 22, Madison Huckabee 2 1-4 5, Cailyn Fuller 0 1-2 1, Gabi Yates 1 0-0 2, Sarah Rogers 2 1-5 5, Julia Masters 6 4-8 16. Totals: 19 13-27 51. 3-Point Baskets: None.
Topsail 41 Cape Fear Academy 33
Keri White knocked down three shots from behind the arc and Payton Shoenleber hit a tough lay-up in transition late in the fourth quarter to lead Topsail past Cape Fear Academy 41-33 on Saturday.
The back-and-forth contest lasted until midway through the final frame when Amberly Wolf knocked down two free throws to give the Lady Pirates a three-point lead. Dominique Bryant also came up with a big block down the stretch and Chandler Skipper hit a tough lay in with under a minute to play to preserve the victory.
White finished with 15 points to lead the Topsail attack and Candaus Banks scored nine. Two Lady Hurricanes finished in double figures as Tayah Lowery put in a team-high 15 points, while Azariah Fields added 11.
Cape Fear was able to work the high-low between Fields and Lowery for most of the contest, but each time the Lady Hurricanes started to gain a little momentum, White was there to end the threat. The sophomore guard hit her second trey of the game to open the second quarter and fast break points of a steal by White gave the Lady Pirates a five-point cushion.
Lowery fought back in the paint off an assist from Fields, and a rebound and put back by Lowery tied the game with three minutes to go in the half.
The Lady Hurricanes had a 30-28 lead headed into the fourth quarter, but Bryant hit a baseline floater to three minutes into the stanza to tie the game up.
After dropping their first two games of the tournament, Topsail picked up the win to move to 6-7 as the Lady Pirates get back into Mideastern Conference on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at South Brunswick. Cape Fear Academy fell to 7-2 and play host to Wilson Christian Academy on Thursday, Jan. 10.
Topsail 12-12-6-11=41
Cape Fear 12-7-9-5=33
Stats: Topsail- Keri White (15); Candaus Banks, (9); Amberly Wolf (5); Payton Shoenleber (6); Chandler Skipper, (4); Dominique Bryant (4)
Cape Fear- Tayah Lowery (15); Azariah Fields, (11); Nnemka Agbafe, (5); Maddie Buren (1); Katherine-Drew Marapese (1)
Harrells Academy 60 South Brunswick 46
Senior Daisha Jordan scored 18 points and had seven steals, and freshman Emily Benton just missed triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and 13 blocked shots as the Lady Crusaders complete a three-game sweep in the tournament to remain unbeaten at 8-0.
South Brunswick fell behind 46-26 after three periods then tried to make a last-quarter charge but fell short in their attempt as the fell for the 11 time in 12 games this year. Lady Cougar freshman Danecia Thomas-Price scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the final quarter in an early 15-11 run but Jordan drilled a long three-pointer and added a late free throw to help her team stave off the comeback attempt.
“I think it was a breakout game for Emily,” Harrells Christian Academy Coach Wayne Cannady said. “She is always blocking shots but scoring is not what she usually does. She seems to wants to defer to the older girls but hopefully this will show her what she can do when she sets her mind to it. She is going to be a major force by the end of the year.
“Overall I’m pleased with what we accomplished here. Out perimeter shooting has to improve, and if we can correct that we should be okay.
Harrells will attempt to stay perfect next week with a home game against Village Christian on Tuesday and an away game at Fayetteville Christian on Friday. South Brunswick will play host to Topsail on Tuesday then head to Wilmington to face New Hanover on Friday.
South Brunswick 10- 6-10-20=46
Harrells Christian 16-11-19-14=60
Harrells Christian: Margaret Clark 1 0-0 2, Ann DeVane 4 2-4 10, Haylee Parks 1 0-3 2, Chloe Campbell 1 0-0 2, Christian Campbell 1 0-0 2, Rylie Evans 1 0-0 2, Bucky Everette 2 0-0 5, Jessi-Kate Batts 1 0-0 3, Emily Benton 5 4-6 14, Daisha Jordan 7 3-8 18. Totals: 24 9-21 60. 3-Point Baskets: Bucky Everette 1, Jessi-Kate Batts 1, Daisha Jordan 1.
South Brunswick: Danecia Thomas-Price 6 2-2 16, Ta’chondria Bryant 4 3-4 11, Tanesha Galloway 0 9-12 9, Kayla Frye 1 0-0 2, Corinne Ryan 4 0-1 8. Totals: 15 14-19 46. 3-Point Baskets: Danecia Thomas-Price 2..
