Lady Falcons Recover From Slow Start To Top Hampton Christian
Published 4:30 pm Thursday, December 30, 2010
FARMVILLE – The Fuqua School girls basketball team proved that a slow start doesn't always lead to a loss on the first day of its Christmas tournament.
The Lady Falcons scored only two points in the first quarter against Hampton Christian on Tuesday, but battled back to overcome a cold shooting effort and take a 36-34 victory over the Warriors.
“We couldn't get in a rhythm offensively, especially early on,” said FS head coach Harry Byant, whose team is trying to find a way to fill the void left by the graduations of primary scorers Allison Newman and Elaine Crone – approximately 75 percent of Fuqua's offense in 2009-10. “We don't have a huge inside threat, and we're lacking confidence on our outside shots. Hopefully, today's win helped us on the perimeter.”
Gaining confidence is the key for the Lady Falcons (2-3, who lost to Central 59-27 on the second day of the tournament on Wednesday), who are relatively young this season, though they did show signs of improvement as the game wore along.
Trailing 9-2 at the first quarter break, the Lady Falcons switched the tables on their guests by out-scoring HCS 11-2 in the second quarter to take a 13-11 lead at the break.
Fuqua did much of its damage at the free throw line. It was 5-8 in the second quarter, as Taylor Schmidt paced the home team with six points at the intermission.
Hampton Christian wrestled the momentum back from Fuqua in the third quarter, and jumped out to a 19-13 lead with 1:36 remaining in the period, before Fuqua guard Tatum Davis hit a three-pointer that sparked an 8-3 run over the final minute-and-a-half. Guard Casey Meadows buried a three-pointer with one second remaining in the quarter to pull Fuqua to within a point at 22-21 heading into the fourth.
Fuqua continued its run, and stretched its lead to 29-24 on a Schmidt lay-up with 3:35 left, but Hampton Christian answered the 16-5 run, and pulled to within a point at 31-30 with 2:11 remaining.
In a departure from its first two games, the Lady Falcons were able to preserve their small lead at the foul line. FS scored on both ends of two one-and-one opportunities to help hold off a late HCS charge led by Micaela Black, who scored two quick buckets to put the Warriors back on top at 34-33 with 1:08 left.
Caroline Wiles found a wide-open Meadows on a long outlet pass, who connected on an uncontested lay-up with 39.4 seconds remaining to give the Lady Falcons the lead for good.
Wiles pulled down two big rebounds in the final 20 seconds, and Meadows hit a free throw with 6.1 remaining to push FS to its first victory of the season.
“Casey really stepped up for us at the end, as did Caroline and Taylor with their rebounding on both ends,” said Bryant. “We found a way to win, and hopefully that will give us a confidence boost.”
Meadows lead Fuqua in scoring with 13 points and five rebounds, while Schmidt just missed out on a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds on 50 percent shooting from the field. Additionally, she was 4-5 from the foul line. Wiles pulled down nine rebounds on the evening.
Fuqua was 10-16 (63 percent) from the foul line as a team, which was a big improvement over the first two games.
“That helped, for sure,” said Bryant, who pointed out that Fuqua was 4-18 from the foul line in a 47-40 loss to Brunswick Academy in the season opener, and was 9-28 from the stripe in a 41-28 loss to Cumberland. “Shooting 10-16 is an improvement.”
Following the Christmas Tournament, Fuqua returns to Virginia Commonwealth Conference play. The Lady Falcons will travel to Southampton Academy on Monday, and will host Tidewater next Thursday, before hosting Richmond Christian on January 10.