How Asheville High girls basketball pulled off furious fourth-quarter comeback vs. Roberson
ASHEVILLE — Evangelia Paulk saw fear in their eyes.
In just over a minute, Asheville High had cut a fourth-quarter deficit from 12 points to four. As the Roberson players made their way to the huddle for a much-needed timeout, Paulk believed she could read their collective mind.
"Our defense was just too much for them. That's why they called a timeout," Paulk said. "They could tell they were losing the lead."
Paulk and the Cougars didn't let up. With the Rams' scoring drought nearing eight minutes, the Cougars capped an 18-0 run by taking their first lead of the game with less than two minutes to play.
Coach Sonita Warren-Dixon's comeback kids engineered perhaps their best yet Tuesday against Roberson, bouncing back from their first loss of the season by erasing a 17-point deficit and holding on for a 49-45 win to keep pace with Reynolds atop the MAC.
"Our defense is what keeps us in games," Warren-Dixon said. "Our philosophy is, if we can get it under 10 going into the fourth quarter when we're down, it's a new ballgame. Because we can score pretty quickly off of our defense."
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A slow start had doomed Warren-Dixon's team during last week's 63-60 loss to Reynolds, and Asheville (19-1, 8-1) again dug itself into a hole Tuesday.
The Rams (15-7, 7-3) went into halftime leading 34-18, with E.P. Sluder and Lauren Snedecor well on the way to their team-high 11 points. They were face-guarding Paulk the same way the Rockets had, hampering the Cougars' offense.
But after the Wofford signee scored just three points in the first half, Asheville began using off-ball screens to create enough separation for her to get the ball in her hands, and she began to heat up.
"I've got a hell of a coaching staff. We figured it out and made the right adjustments at the right time, and the girls executed," Warren-Dixon said.
Still, the Rams led 42-25 late in the third quarter.
They wouldn't score again until Asheville had erased their lead.
"It has to go back to our defense. It's our biggest thing," Paulk said. "It creates everything."
It took nearly three minutes for either team to score in the fourth quarter, but once Paulk (15 points, eight rebounds) converted a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to nine, the Cougars pounced. Over the next 3:30, Paulk blocked two shots, Aleysha Hill made two buckets, two of their teammates hit 3-pointers and Asheville had suddenly pulled ahead.
Free throws from Kirsten Watt (16 points, seven rebounds) iced what was close to a must-win for the Cougars, whose second-half surges sparked by pressure defense have earned them the No. 2 RPI in the 4A West but who need to win the conference to keep their playoff seeding from falling into the double-digits.
Even more critically, if they don't keep teams closer within reach before halftime, their postseason run may not be nearly as deep as they hope.
"We fixed everything that we needed to (from the Reynolds loss)," Paulk said. "It did take us a minute to pick back up, but we unleashed in the second half."
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville High girls basketball beats Roberson with huge late comeback
