Published: Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012 / Updated: Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012 10:51 AM
CHS girls top NW to remain unbeaten in region
CLOVER --
The Clover High School girls basketball team moved to 6-0 in Region 3-AAAA following Friday's 55-52 down-to-the-wire conquest of Northwestern in Trojan Country.
It was a hard-fought game from the outset, with the Lady Trojans striking early and building a 12-8 first-quarter advantage.
The Lady Blue Eagles fought back in the second quarter and regained the lead at 17-16 on a pair of free throws by leading scorer Bria Huffman.
After Northwestern regained the lead, Clover freshman Sydney Sanders' three-pointer pushed the Lady Blue Eagles ahead 20-18.
Huffman and freshman Elizabeth Edmunds converted free throws in the final moments of the quarter, sending Clover ahead 24-21 at the half.
The teams traded baskets in the third quarter as Clover maintained its three-point advantage at 41-38.
Huffman and 6-foot sophomore pivot player Gadson Lefft had key baskets during the third quarter standoff.
The fourth quarter was more of the same, with the teams trading buckets once again and looking for an edge.
The Lady Trojans found the edge when playmaking guard Iesha Love stole the ball and scored on a breakaway midway through the quarter, staking Northwestern to a 47-46 lead.
Lauren Richardson answered for Clover on a nifty feed from teammate Logan Ballard and the Lady Blue Eagles were back up 48-47.
With the CHS girls clinging to a one-point lead, junior point guard Aaliyah Knox stepped to the line and drilled two free throws, pushing the lead to 50-47 with 1:30 left in the game.
On the next possession, Knox again tickled the twine on both free throw opportunities, expanding the lead to five points (52-47) with 57.6 ticks left on the scoreboard clock.
Clover held on in the final seconds, with Richardson and Huffman finding success at the line and the Lady Blue Eagles prevailing 55-52.
“It's big when you can win a tight region game on the road,” head coach Sherer Hopkins said after the game. “Aaliyah sealed it for us with clutch free throw shooting.”
Hopkins wasn't surprised that Northwestern extended Clover to the limit before the home fans.
“They are a talented team,” she said. “Our kids responded to a tough challenge.”
The CHS coach noted that in addition to the clutch free throw shooting, it was a total team effort.
“Everybody contributed tonight,” she said.
Stepping to the charity stripe with the game on the line and Northwestern fans screaming for her to miss, Knox was brimming with confidence.
“I knew we needed to make the big shots to win the game,” she said in a postgame interview. “It felt great to win a big region game on the road.”
Asked about picking up her fourth foul in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, Knox replied, “I backed off a couple times on defense to stay in the game.”
Huffman paced the scoring with 24 points and Richardson was next with 13.
Earlier in the week, the Lady Blue Eagles defeated Spartanburg 58-49 on the road.
The Lady Vikings had no answer for Huffman, who had a monster game with a game-high 32 points.
Spartanburg came roaring out of the gate in building a 12-5 first-quarter lead.
But the CHS girls fought back the way first place teams do, slicing the lead to three at the half and outscoring the home team 21-10 in the third quarter.
The Lady Blue Eagles travel to Gaffney Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off, followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
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