By Larry Lamb
[email protected]
NEW WAVERLY — Coach TaNesiah Johnson's warnings to her team about the challenges of playing New Waverly on the road fell on deaf ears.
New Waverly outlasted the visiting Lady Bulldogs 57-53 in overtime, avenging an earlier 50-47 loss to Crockett.
New Waverly and Crockett, both 7-2, are tied for second place behind District 23-3A leader Anderson-Shiro (9-0).
"As I've warned repeatedly, do not come out flat because New Waverly is a hard place to play. But that's exactly what we did. We came out flat," said Coach Johnson, whose team faced another tough road game against Anderson-Shiro on Tuesday.
New Waverly opened the game with a 4-0 run. Trailing 14-9 in the second quarter, Johnson said her team played "somewhat better" and trailed 26-21 going into halftime.
Crockett closed the gap to 39-38 at the end of the third and started playing its style of basketball.
"We went inside to our bigs, which we should have done way sooner like I told the girls," said Johnson.
The Lady Dogs outscored their hosts 10-9 in the fourth to knot the score at 48-48 and force overtime.
Unable to keep their momentum going, however, the Lady Bulldogs were outscored 9-5.
"We just had way too many turnovers which killed us and we gave up some defense possessions that we couldn't afford. Once we finally did what we were supposed to and fed our BIGS inside, we scored every time. But apparently we were too selfish and instead of sticking to the game plan we did what we wanted to, which cost us the game. 99.5% I know what I am doing and talking about. At the end of the day we lost due to turnovers, probably the most since I've been coaching here," said Johnson.
Tocarra Johnson led with 18 points and Naomi Taylor was right behind with 17. Tania Davis and A'Nayah Wooten both chipped in 9.
The Lady Bulldogs have five games left, starting with a trip to Anderson. Coldspring comes to town Friday and Crockett travels to Shepherd next Tuesday.
"There are a lot of scenarios how the district could shake out. The bottom line is we must beat Anderson," Johnson said.
Last Tuesday at The Hop, the Lady Bulldogs demolished Trinity 71-5 to start the final leg of district.
Crockett led 12-2 after a quarter and notched a 25-0 shutout in the second for a 37-2 lead.
In the second half, the Lady Dogs outscored their guests 34-3.
Johnson pumped in a game-high 27, including a 13-point spurt in the second.
Tania Davis was close behind with 25 and Taylor rounded out double figures with 12.
Freshman Patreece White had 5 and Edrinette Simpson had 2.
Since Trinity didn't have a JV, Johnson moved up White and Brodeja Davis. "They both stepped up really well and played their roles. Brodeja almost scored a couple of times but couldn't get them to fall. I thought they both helped us out."
The Lady Dogs turned in a strong showing at the charity stripe, nailing 13 of 24 for 54 percent. Johnson was 7 of 10 and Davis was 5 of 7.
The Lady Bulldogs continued to shine in the turnover department with only 13 for the game.
Keyonna Davis missed the game and A'Nayah Wooten was sidelined by an injury during pre-game warm-ups.
District 23-3A
Girls Standings
Anderson-Shiro 9-0
Crockett 7-2
New Waverly 7-2
Shepherd 4-5
Tarkington 3-6
Coldspring 3-5
Onalaska 2-7
Trinity 0-9
Scores
Friday, Jan. 20
New Waverly 57, Crockett 53
Shepherd beat Trinity
Coldspring 48, Onalaska 43
Anderson 58, Tarkington 55
Tuesday, Jan. 17
Crockett 71, Trinity 5
Anderson 50, Onalaska 24
New Waverly 48, Tarkington 38
Coldspring 46, Shepherd 37
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