Harper, CMS shoots down Central, 33-28
Central Thursday night in the Roughrider Middle School
Gymnasium. Center won its fifth straight, 33-28 (Photo by John
Krueger)
CENTER -- The Center Lady Rider Middle School girls had their hands full for the first two quarters Thursday night when they ran into a red-hot Central squad. But after a halftime adjustment, the Lady Riders used the hot passing of Shya Stansberry's passing and the dead-eye shooting of Tyvonna Harper to record a 33-28 win here in the Roughrider Middle School Gymnasium.
The win, Center's fifth straight, improved the squad to 7-5 on the season, and pulled them to within one game of .500 in District 18-3A play at 3-4. The Lady Riders will travel to Rusk Monday night to battle the Lady Eagles at 6 p.m. The 7th grade will tip off at 5 p.m.
Central's game plan against Center was to sag inside defensively and not give CMS leading scorer Lacey Evans much room to shoot. Offensively, the Lady Bulldogs planned on hitting the outside jumpshots. Both ideas worked well early on.
After Evans scored a pair of shots in the paint to give Center a 4-0 lead, the Lady Riders failed to score again in the final 4:28 of the first period. Meanwhile, Central connected on a pair of shots inside the three-point line and one outside the arc for a 9-4 lead after the opening session.
Another perimeter jumpshot early in the second quarter boosted the Lady Bulldog lead to 11-4, before Center went on a 5-0 run in less than a minute in the period to cut the advantage to 11-9. Evans hit 1-of-2 free throws, and she scored a layup, along with Stansberry.
But Central wouldn't go away. The Lady Bulldogs hit a pair of three-pointers to boost the lead back to 17-9. Then Harper, who was the key player for Center with 12 points, hit a three-pointer, and Evans hit a shot in the paint to keep Center within striking distance at the half, 17-14.
"We made a couple of adjustments at the half - both offensively and defensively - and we were able to play more of our game in the second half," said CMS Head Coach Beth Nichols. "They were double-teaming Lacey a lot, so I told Tyvonna that she was going to have to step up and make those outside shots; and she came through for us."
Harper began the third quarter with a three-pointer and a 15-footer in the first 1:41 of the period to give CMS only its second lead of the game, 19-17. Evans then added a bucket in the paint to extend the lead to four.
After the Lady Bulldogs tied the score at 21-21, Evans hit a layup with 19 seconds left in the third to give the Lady Riders the lead heading into the final six minutes of play.
From there, four different Center players scored in the period. After Central had pulled to within 27-25 with 4:06 remaining, Harper sank a 15-footer, and later stole a pass and drove coast to coast for a layup with 1:59 on the clock to boost Center's lead to 31-26. After that bucket the Lady Bulldogs couldn't overcome.
Evans led Center's scorers with 15 points. Stansberry, Jasmine Gipson and Saria Garza each dropped in two points. Stansberry also dished out a career-high 11 assists in the contest.
Evans was the leading rebounder with seven, while Stansberry and Harper pulled down four apiece and Raven Green tallied two.
In the other middle school girls' games played Thursday, Central knocked off the Center 7th-A girls, 36-16, and the Lady Bulldogs edged the Center 7th-B girls, 9-5.
STATS AT A GLANCE
Scoring by Quarters
Central 09 08 04 07 = 28
Center 04 10 09 10 = 33
Individual Scoring: Center - Lacey Evans 15; Tyvonna Harper 12; Shya Stansberry 2; Saria Garza 2; Jasmine Gipson 2.
Leading Rebounders: Center - Evans 7; Stansberry 4; Harper 4; Raven Green 2.
Steal Leaders: Center - Evans 2; Stansberry 2.
Assist Leaders: Center - Stansberry 11.
Records: Center 7-5, 2-3 district.
Up Next: Center will travel to Rusk Monday. 7th-B girls will start at 5 p.m., with 7th-A to follow, then 8th-A.
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Central 7th-A 36, Center 7th-A 16 -- Montana Woodard and Marissa Macias each scored four points, but it wasn't quite enough as Central knocked off the Center 7th-A girls, 36-16, Thursday night. Lyric Smith added three points for CMS, while Andrews and Riley Mitchell each scored two.