Hoggard 42 Ashley 29
Senior Julia Buehler and junior Emma Haywood combined for 27 points to lead the Vikings past Ashley 42-29 late Monday afternoon inside Trask Coliseum on the campus of UNCW.
With the win, Hoggard advanced to the girls final of the annual Leon Brogden Holiday Tournament against New Hanover. The Screaming Eagles face Laney in the third-place game on Wednesday. The championship round is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m., while the runner-up matchup is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
“I’m just really proud of our girls and the way we played today,” said Hoggard Coach Boubacar Aw. “It was a long time coming. Our girls are learning and understanding that we have the ability to compete and just need to keep that intensity up and put in some more minutes because we’re a little short-handed right now.
“Ashley is a very good defensive team and I thought we had good ball movement and took quality shots.”
Both teams were squared away 11-all after the opening eight minutes when Braelyn Little hit a two-point basket at the buzzer, but the Vikings held Ashley to just one three-point field goal in the second quarter. Hoggard went on a 10-0 run during the stretch as Buehler and Haywood accounted for all the Vikings’ points to take a 21-14 lead at the break. Carly Higgins hit the lone shot for the Screaming Eagles on a three-point basket with 2:30 to go in the half.
Haywood continued her strong play in the third quarter with eight points in the frame and also dished an assist to Tara Poteat for a three-ball at the top of the arc. The Vikings moved the ball well throughout the second half and Aleah Thompson got into the action with her only field goal of the game on a jump shot from the elbow to make it 32-19 before Jada Bacchus pulled Ashley to within 10 late in the stanza.
“Our players are starting to grow up a little bit as we’ve played 10 games in about 16 days,” said Aw. “We’re just trying to get them to understand that they can be a really good team when we all play as a unit. At times we lose some of our confidence, but we laid everything on the line tonight.”
Chyna Cotton kept the Screaming Eagles alive early in the fourth quarter with two points to make it an 11-point game until Thompson found Madison Huckabee on the first of two back-to-back buckets to seal the victory.
Buehler led all scorers with 14 points and picked up her game defensively with four steals and four rebounds, while Haywood finished with 13 to pace the Hoggard offense. Higgins hit three treys for Ashley and put in a team-high 12 points.
Ashley 11-3-8-7=29
Hoggard 11-10-13-8=42
Hoggard stats: Julia Buehler, 14 points; Aleah Thompson, four points; Emma Haywood, 13 points; Tara Poteat, five points; Keehly Britt, two points; Madison Huckabee, four points.
Ashley stats: Jada Bacchus, five points; Chyna Cotton, six points; Carly Higgins, 12 points; Braelyn Little, two points; Zara Bryant, two points; Angel Smith, two points.
New Hanover 47 Laney 31
New Hanover jumped out to an 11 point lead at the break and held off a third quarter flurry from Laney to advance to the girls final of the Leon Brogden Holiday Tournament with a 47-31 win on Monday night.
The Wildcats used pressure defense and a stout half-court trap to force 13 turnovers in the first half, while Nyasia Waddell cleaned up the glass with 10 rebounds to go along with consistent play in the post by Alex Simmons and a strong performance in the backcourt from Taylor Perkins, Tanasia Toomer, Amani Muhammed and Ayonna Cotton.
“We got together this morning and talked about playing better as a team after Saturday’s win,” said New Hanover Coach Vertha Dixon-Wright. “We wanted to put that full court press in the whole game and I thought we stayed patient with it. We were able to get some key steals early on and the kids did a good job.
“We attacked the basket when we had too. We stayed physical and were able to get some shots to fall tonight.”
It took the Bucs until the 5:40 mark of the third quarter to record their first two-point basket as Baley Edwards hit two treys and Anna Rae Porcelli knocked down a long range shot off the bench to pace the Laney scoring over the opening 16 minutes of action.
New Hanover made 10-of-19 from the field in the first half and used a 10-3 run in the second quarter to build a double-digit cushion before the Bucs pulled to within four off a three-pointer from Jayda Malone late in the third period. The Wildcats shot 45 percent from the field for the game.
Turnovers ultimately hurt Laney’s comeback attempt as Cotton finished a coast-to-coast lay-in followed by four straight points from Simmons heading into the final frame. New Hanover outscored Laney 11-4 in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.
“I was kind of glad to see some of our individuals step up tonight,” said Dixon-Wright. “I saw some things tonight from some kids that I hope to see for the whole season.”
Simmons hit 11 of her game-high 13 points in the second half, while Cotton chipped in with 10 as eight different players found the scoring column for the Wildcats. Edwards finished with nine points to lead Laney.
New Hanover faces Hoggard in the girls final to wrap up the three-day tournament at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The Bucs look to bounce back against Ashley in the runner-up contest at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
NHHS 13-10-13-11=47
Laney 9-3-15-4=31
Laney stats: Baley Edwards, nine points; Anna Rae Porcelli, seven points; Jayda Malone, five points; Taylor Morly, two points; Micah Morly, four points; Jenson Edwards, four points; Lexi Melville, two points.
New Hanover stats: Amani Muhammed, eight points; Ayonna Cotton, 10 points; Alex Simmons, 13 points; Nyasia Waddell, six points, 10 rebounds; Tanasia Toomer, two points ; Taylor Perkins, five points; Kayleigh Merrell, one point.
Hough 34 Hoke 32
Hough carried a two-point lead into the final eight minutes of action and held off Hoke County in the fourth quarter to pick up a 34-32 win in the opening game of day inside Trask Coliseum on Monday.
The Lady Huskies of Cornelius play in the fifth-place game in Trask Coliseum against Whiteville at noon on Tuesday. Hoke looks to salvage its first win of the tournament in the seventh place contest at 1:30 p.m. inside Hanover Hall against Socastee, South Carolina, on Tuesday.
Hoke 8-2-15-7=32
Hough 5-13-9-7=34
Hough stats: G. Giankoks, 12 points; B. Alquiza, nine points; A. Denny, two points; E. Cowie, five points; J. Swinea, four points; Z. Montague, two points.
Hoke stats: J. McNeill, 10 points; J. Wells, 15 points; J. Bradshaw, four points; D. Watkins, two points; Symone Thompson, 1 point.
Socastee (S.C.) 58 Whiteville 30
Socastee 12-13-17-16=58
Whiteville 6-5-11-8=30
