Lady Hornets run past Dayton
Jan. 17—HUNTSVILLE — A strong game on both ends of the ball lifted Huntsville over Dayton on Tuesday night.
The Lady Hornets (9-17, 4-0 District 16, 5A) saw four players hit double-digit points with both senior Ja'Navia Gage and junior Chelsea Butler hitting double-doubles.
Huntsville would finish the game with a 77-27 win over the Lady Broncos (5-15, 0-4 District 16, 5A).
"I'm proud of my girls," Huntsville head coach LaToya Bennett said, "We've been striving all season to get everybody involved and I think we are getting to that point. The girls are competing in practice and I saw one of the best practices yesterday. Chelsea and Ja'Navia battled it out the whole game. That's all I can ask for."
Huntsville has a new opportunity this year and they have two post players in Gage and Butler. The duo combined for 26 rebounds and 30 points in the win. Gage, who had just three rebounds in the first half, finished with 15 boards and 20 points.
Butler would finish with a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards, but this is something that the Lady Hornets haven't seen before with both their presence on the glass.
Huntsville totaled 46 rebounds as a team with 33 of them being offensive to help lead to extra opportunities at the rim.
"I don't think I've seen bigs like this since I've been in college," Bennett said. "These girls are unique in their own way. Ja'Navia brings us a post-guard presence and she's been bringing the ball up for us. Chelsea is just a bang-up. She is so physical but she likes to get in there and mix it up. I love the way they complement each other."
Rebounds play a big part in the game but offense puts points on the scoreboard and the Lady Hornets have several people able to complement them in every aspect.
Junior guard Markia Sweat was a silent scorer against the Lady Broncos as she tallied 17 points, going 3-4 from the free-throw line. Sweat also stepped up on defense. She finished with seven of the Lady Hornets 16 steals helping to lead to points on the other end.
Huntsville's scoring came from eight separate players on Tuesday with junior guard Mahalia Twine rounding out the double-figures with 14.
But having flexibility on offense is something the Lady Hornets will look to as the district season gets ready to flip back around.
"We are just telling the girls to relax and settle in," Bennett said. "The last few years it hasn't been our offense, it's been our defense. This year we have so many pieces that can score the basketball. I'm proud of Mahalia and I'm proud of Markia because she listens in practice. She listens in practice and I see it carrying into her game."
Huntsville will now hit the road for a matchup against Porter. After that, the season will flip back around and the Lady Hornets will travel to Lufkin.
Tipoff against the Spartans is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday in Porter. The Lady Hornets return home on
'We aren't going to overlook Porter on Friday," Bennett said. "They have a good guard/forward player that we are preparing for. We don't take anybody lightly. We are just going to come in tomorrow, watch film and get ready for them on Friday."
