The Charleston’s Lady Tigers held the O’Bannon Lady Greenwaves scoreless from the two minute mark of the second quarter until the the 2:25 mark of the fourth quarter to claim a 36-15 road victory in girls high school basketball Friday night.
O’Bannon senior Kornisha Smith broke the scoring drought with free throw in the closing minutes as O’Bannon stung together a few late baskets to close the game. Scoring was limited in the first quarter with both teams combining to score nine points in the first quarter. Charleston began distancing themselves from O’Bannon in the second quarter. Lady Tigers forward Menesha Stokes took to the offensive glass and turned up the pressure defense to score six of her team’s 14 second quarter points. After Lady Greenwaves guard Shayla Benson scored a three pointer to tie the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter, Charleston closed the second quarter by scoring nine unanswered points to take 19-7 lead into the half.
“This is a young team and they must be constantly reminded that we need to get into our sets and take better care of the ball,” said O’Bannon head coach Isaiah Morris. “We are making progress, improving and working on becoming more consistent. Also, I give credit to Charleston because they are an aggressive athletic team.”
Charleston picked its spots in the second half to push the tempo. For the most part, the visitors settled into a patient offensive half court set with multiple passes to find soft spots in the O’Bannon zone. The slower pace, coupled with Charleston’s offensive rebounds limited the Lady Greenwaves offensive possession.
“We don’t have a dynamic five, but we focus on defense,” said Lady Tigers head coach Mandy Moore. “My philosophy is that defense keeps you in every game.”
Charleston outscored O’Bannon 11-0 in the in the third quarter highlighted by a three pointer at the buzzer from Keyuna Tellis. The visitors entered the final quarter with a commanding 30-7 lead. Smith led O’Bannon with five points. Stokes led all scores with 13.
