City Girls Take Down Unbeaten West in OT
After allowing West to come back in the second half, the Little Hawks came away with their perfect record still in tact, beating West High 74-73 in overtime.
December 14, 2016
For a hyped up game between the Little Hawks, ranked #2 in the state, and the Women of Troy, ranked #5 in the state, it sure seemed to live up to expectations. After taking a seven point lead into the locker room, the Little Hawks saw their lead vanish in the third and fourth quarters.
“Give credit to West High, they were making huge shots (down the stretch) it wasn’t like they were easy shots. They weren’t layups,” City High head coach Bill McTaggart said after the game.
The Women of Troy took the lead on a three late, but Ashley Joens and the Little Hawks forced overtime. The Little Hawks’ defense down the stretch is something that coach McTaggart says the team needs to improve going forward.
“They beat us on the boards, we gotta do a better job of boxing out in the next game and cover the perimeter a little better,” McTaggart said.
In overtime, the Little Hawks took the lead early and already were in the double bonus. Free throw shooting was a key factor for the Little Hawks as Ashley Joens ’18 got to the line a lot, especially late in the game, and finished 11-17 from the line with 18 total points. She was the second leading scorer behind Kenya Earl ’17 tallied 20 points. Rose Nkumu ’20 made two free throws late to extend City’s lead but missed a pair of free throws at the end with City leading by one. West High had a shot to win it at the end but missed a corner three.
City improves to 6-0 with the win, but McTaggart says that this game, another one against a ranked opponent, is one that the team can learn a lot from.
“I think it’s gonna give us some confidence,” McTaggart said. “We played hard, but we didn’t play our best. I think we’ll have the girls’ attention.”
