Tigers force turnover for win

0

HENRYVILLE

With eight seconds left in the game, up

52-51, the Crothersville girls basketball team needed a stop to seal a win.

Not only did they get that stop, but the Tigers forced a turnover. Crothersville sophomore Katrina Christian then sprinted down the floor to finish on a contested layup to help her team edge Henryville 54-51 on Tuesday.

“That last stop, I kept telling them they need to play defense with their feet and not their hands,” Tigers coach Kevin Hensley said. “In that first half we kept reaching and getting in foul trouble.”

I told them in the last time out, we need to play without our hands. We need to box them out. It worked out

for us.”

Christian finished with a career-high 28 points, as the Tigers earned their fifth straight victory.

“I know (Christian’s) capable of that every night,” Hensley said. “She’s getting better everyday. If it wasn’t for her, we would have been in a world of hurt. We need all the girls to step up. I thought the bench stepped up big tonight with all the foul trouble.”

Early on, the Tigers trailed the Hornets 14-15 after the first quarter.

The Tigers committed six fouls in the opening eight minutes.

Then, Christian heated up.

Christian netted seven field goals in the second quarter to score 14 of her team’s 20 points before the half. From the 3:52 mark until the buzzer, Christian scored five of the Tigers’ seven baskets.

Things didn’t go the Tigers’ way in the third quarter, as the Hornets outscored them 13-6.

Tied at 40-40 heading into the final eight minutes, the Tigers’ foul trouble came back to haunt them.

Crothersville had close to 20 fouls at the start of the fourth quarter, and Abby Jewell fouled out in the first couple of minutes.

In the fourth, the Tigers started by taking the lead with a basket from Jewell at the 7:35 mark.

The Hornets retook the lead, 51-50, when Haley Huddleston scored off an offensive rebound in the paint with 2:31 left in the game.

Christian snatched the Tigers’ lead back with a

weaving layup when the clock read 1:15 before the final stop.

“That was a huge win for us, now we need to recover and get ready for the next one,” Hensley said.

No posts to display