Lady Hornets score victory over Rudder
Nov. 30—HUNTSVILLE — After a tough 10-game road stretch, Huntsville girls' basketball returned to the Paul Bohan Gym to face Bryan Rudder.
The Lady Hornets would capitalize on their strong defensive performance and hit some easy buckets in the 54-30 win over the Lady Rangers.
"We are still so young," Huntsville head coach LaToya Bennett said. "We are still working on a lot of things and we have a lot of big shoes to fill. The kids are working hard every day. After playing the type of schedule we have played this year, nothing but teams in the top-15 of Texas, it says a lot about their morale. They never give up."
For all four quarters, Huntsville's defense played strong forcing the Lady Rangers into several five-second violations and forcing many mistakes.
As a team, the Lady Hornets had 21 steals with Mahalia Twine stealing the ball nine times for a team high. The Huntsville defense was also able to take the turnovers and turn them into chances on the other end.
Some of those chances did not go in, however, leaving some points off the board for Huntsville.
"It's not surprising, it's who we are," Bennett said. "Our defense drives our offense and if we learn how to take care of the ball and make layups we are going to be okay. I thought layups were going to be an achilles heel for us tonight but our defense saved us."
Senior center JaVavia Gage led the way for the Lady Hornets closing the game with a team-high 15 points. Gage also had 15 rebounds capping off her double-double night. She finished the game with six assists, just missing out on a triple-double.
Gage was a pivotal part of the team's offense as Twine was the next best scorer with 10. While this team is still young, there is still some work on some easy layups and free throws.
Despite some of the young players, the Lady Hornets were still able to have nine separate players put points on the board, despite shooting 44% from the field.
"We've really been blessed this year to get size on the inside," Bennett said. "With JaNavia Gage, Chelsea Butler and our freshman Alyvionia Winn. Those girls are bringing a different look to the Lady Hornets basketball team because we can work the ball inside out as opposed to being guard heavy."
One pivotal thing that has hurt the Lady Hornets is free throws. Against Rudder, Huntsville went 4-17 from the charity stripe missing out on those points. Bennett even kept the team out during halftime to work on their shooting.
"It still wasn't what I wanted," Bennett said. "Of course, when we get back in the lab tomorrow it will be something we have to focus on. We are never going to stop, we are going to keep working everyday to get better in the areas we are weak and prepare for the district."
Next up
Huntsville will hit the road yet again for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off Friday against Cypress Ranch.
