Twine, Gage power Huntsville past Nacogdoches
Jan. 13—HUNTSVILLE — Huntsville girls' basketball got out to a commanding lead and never looked back against Nacogdoches on Friday night.
The Lady Hornets used an 11-point first quarter to propel themselves to a 30-point win over the Lady Dragons.
Junior guard Mahalia Twine would lead the way with 22 points in Huntsville's 61-31 win.
"I thought my young girls played a huge piece in stretching the lead," Huntsville head coach LaToya Bennett said. "I told them coming in that it was a bit of a rivalry and they needed to do it for me. They took care of business. The practice was tenacious this past week and we focused on a lot of things. I saw that out there tonight, but we still aren't polished in the way I want us to be."
Twine, who has been a big part of the Lady Hornets' offense, once again stepped up on both sides of the ball. While she was the leading scorer, she also helped defensively letting it turn to points on the other end.
Freshman guard Chloe Sanders also saw plenty of playing time in the win, as she finished with 12 points. She would finish with four three-pointers, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter.
"Mahalia has been putting us on her back the entire year," Bennett said. "Some nights are tougher than others but I think she's locking onto what I am asking of her. It's not too big of a task. She's getting in there and playing hard-nosed defense and letting the defense guide her offense."
One of the biggest takeaways in the game was how many Lady Hornets saw the court. The only player that didn't see the hardwood was junior A'quarius Howard, who was left off the scorer's book.
Freshman Jazlyn Hill, Alyvionia Winn and Sanders all played a big role in keeping the lead as they saw the floor in the majority of the fourth quarter.
While that might seem like a little thing now, it is something the Lady Hornets will like to see later on down the road as they near the halfway point of district play.
"When Mahalia, A'quarius and Markia were freshmen they kinda got the same opportunity and I'm seeing now with Alyvionia, Jazlyn and Chole," Bennett said. "Those girls are getting a lot of minutes and that is going to pay off huge when we move down the stretch. It's going to make us that much deeper next year."
As Twine would lead the Hornets on offense, several members stepped up to the plate elsewhere. Senior forward Ja'Navia Gage clinched another double-double as she hauled in 20 rebounds and 12 points.
Gage would lead the charge on the glass but would not be alone. Sweat would add five boards along with Winn.
Not only was the glass important but Huntsville would wind up with 14 steals helping them on the other end.
"Anytime we can get defensive rebounds, those are opportunities for us to score," Bennett said. "I told the girls we have to be everywhere tonight. I thought in the first half our backside defense was rough so we fine-tuned it at halftime. The girls came out and were drilling it. I just think as we move down the stretch and see different opponents, those are going to be some things I'm looking for."
Now, the Lady Hornets will look to keep the momentum as they will remain home for a 6 p.m. matchup against Dayton on Tuesday at the Paul Bohan Gym.
