‘Three-ball’ kind to Lawrence Academy
Published 4:52 pm Tuesday, December 7, 2021
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AHOSKIE – Sometimes you live by the three, and then there are times when you die by the three.
Fortunately for Lawrence Academy, the “threes” fell through the basket at the most opportune times here Friday night in the varsity girls championship game of the inaugural Doug Cobbs Scholarship Basketball Tournament.
Leah Woodard’s trey early in the fourth quarter afforded the Lady Warriors a bit of breathing room at 28-22 and Lawrence went on to claim the tournament title with a hard-fought 32-25 win over Southampton Academy.
Woodard, who finished with a game-high 13 points, was named as the tournament MVP.
Lawrence Academy’s varsity girls won the inaugural Doug Cobbs Scholarship Tournament on Friday with a 32-25 win over Southampton Academy. Cobbs (left on the back row) presented the tournament’s first place plaque to Lawrence teammates, kneeling from left, Sam Hughson, Leah Woodard, Emma Smith, Morgan Stotesberry, and Claire Dail; and, standing from left, Ellie Farmer, Addie Phelps, Lucy Boffano, Karley Byrd, Annie Hayes Trowell, Brook Brown, and Perris Clayton. Photo by William Anthony
The Lady Warriors held a 30-22 lead inside the final five minutes before a free throw from Erika Shaffer and a basket by Caroline Slate off an offensive rebound got the Lady Raiders to within five points (30-25) with 4:02 remaining.
Neither team would score from the field after that, mostly due to Lawrence opting to play “keep-away” from Southampton. The Lady Warriors repeatedly passed the ball as Southampton gave chase.
Inside the game’s final 90 seconds, Southampton was forced to foul and even though Lawrence was only 2-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch, it was enough to preserve the win.
Thanks to a trio of three-pointers by Woodard, Lawrence led 19-14 at halftime. They stretched that lead to 22-14 over the opening four minutes of the third quarter where Annie Hayes Trowell connected on a basket while Emma Smith sank one of two free throws.
Sparked by a pair of Slate baskets and one from Ashtyn Dunn off an offensive rebound, Southampton rallied to within 22-20 with 2:11 left in the third period.
But once again, the three-point line was kind to Lawrence as Claire Dail nailed a long-range shot that gave the Lady Warriors an eventual 25-22 lead at the end of the period.
Dail (7 points), Smith (4), Perris Clayton (4), Trowell (2) and Morgan Stotesberry (2) added to the winning effort for the Lady Warriors.
Smith and Clayton were named to the All-Tournament Team, as were Slate, Shaffer, and Emma Belmonte from Southampton.
Slate topped Southampton’s scoring with 10 points.
Lawrence Academy also won the junior varsity girls championship game earlier on Friday where they edged Ridgecroft, 24-23.
Claire Smith led the winners with 11 points.
Kate Chamblee tallied 11 points to pace Ridgecroft.
About Cal Bryant
Cal Bryant, a 40-year veteran of the newspaper industry, serves as the Editor at Roanoke-Chowan Publications, publishers of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, Gates County Index, and Front Porch Living magazine.
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