Pressure cooker: Lady Hornets turn up heat on Summer Creek, win 62-29

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Lady Hornets junior guard Myah Antwi (20) sprints her way down the court on a fast break as a Summer Creek defender tries to slow her down. Huntsville rolled past the Lady Bulldogs 62-29 to remain perfect in District 18-4A play. The Lady Hornets will play at Caney Creek on Friday. D.J. Shafer

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January 17, 2012

By Gene Schallenberg Assistant Sports Editor The Huntsville Item Tue Jan 17, 2012, 10:59 PM CST

HUNTSVILLE — It took a little longer than usual, but with a little time and their stifling defense, the Lady Hornets eventually turned Tuesday’s game into another rout.

In what was a low-scoring affair in the early stages, Huntsville was able to get into a rhythm offensively and defensively and pull away from Summer Creek, eventually winning by yet another lopsided score, 62-29.

“We’ve got our goals,” Lady Hornets junior Myah Antwi said. “We’ve just got to take it a step at a time, just step up a rung of the ladder every time we play a game.”

Throughout the first few minutes, Huntsville (8-0 in District 18-4A, 20-5 overall) was held in check by the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Hornets managed just five points in the first four minutes of the opening period, which had them tied at 5 apiece.

“Tonight we missed a big part of what we do. Demi (Turner) didn’t get to play because of medical reasons, so we kind of started out a little sluggish, but the girls picked it up, which is good because other girls need to step it up on the team,” Lady Hornets coach Jay Oliphant said.

“A big part of our game is tempo and for the past couple of games and not just tonight, we’re pushing the ball up the floor at times too slowly. Our biggest thing is getting the ball up, we’re going to find gaps and creases and penetrate and shoot little jumpers in the lane. In the first half we didn’t do that very well. But we did better in the second half.”

Once the Lady Hornets were able to force a few turnovers with their full-court press, they hit a bunch of easy layups and stretched their lead.

Huntsville built some defensive momentum toward the end of the first quarter, allowing just one field goal in the final five-plus minutes of the period, which carried over into the second.

As the Lady Hornets began to cause problems for Summer Creek at the beginning of the second quarter, they converted off steals and poor Lady Bulldogs passes.

“The girls feed off those easy buckets,” Oliphant said. “The more we can steal it and get a layup, the hungrier they get. We try to get as many steals and layups as we can possibly get.”

Huntsville senior guard Ceidra Coleman led the charge, scoring a pair of buckets after slashing her way through the Lady Bulldog defense.

Quickly, Huntsville kept pulling away and suddenly had a double-digit advantage with time to go before the break.

“We started to put pressure on them. We try to get them frustrated and play our game,” said Antwi, who was one of nine Lady Hornets to score, adding eight points to the cause. “If we get them to play our game, they don’t know how to adjust.”

The Lady Hornets’ defense kept Summer Creek from getting decent looks at the basket. Huntsville then went ahead by 20 points with a little more than two minutes to go before the break.

The only points the Lady Bulldogs could muster in the second period came on free throws.

It wasn’t until the 6:17 mark of the third that Summer Creek guard Katelynn Johnson snapped a Lady Bulldogs shooting drought that spanned a little more than 10 minutes, going back to the final seconds of the first period. By then, Huntsville had taken advantage and had built a 37-10 lead by that point.

The Lady Hornets were able to coast to the final buzzer with reserves getting plenty of playing time.

With six games left in the regular season, Huntsville is perched atop the district standings. The Lady Hornets travel to Caney Creek on Friday night for another district contest.

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BEAUMONT OZEN 70, HUNTSVILLE 61: The big one that got away
In the opening minutes, the Huntsville girls played exactly the way they needed to.
Having top-ranked Beaumont Ozen on the ropes in the early going, the Lady Hornets knew that they had an upset brewing. It was just too early to peak against the undefeated Lady Panthers.
A victory and a third straight trip to the Region III tournament wasn’t in the cards as the Lady Hornets, despite holding a 23-point advantage, could not keep Ozen down for long and fell in Tuesday’s regional quarterfinals 70-61.

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Huntsville Cowgirl on a full-ride scholarship
RaKira Turner had quite a birthday bash Monday morning at Huntsville High School. Complete with punch and cookies, Turner, her sisters, their parents and coaches celebrated together during a short break from class.
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February 22, 2012 2 Photos
Bulldogs go down fighting
There were so many questions after the New Waverly boys dropped their bi-district playoff game to East Chambers on Tuesday night, 56-54.
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This time, the Hornets' best is not good enough
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When Brenham when on its runs, the Hornets rallied. When Huntsville seemed to be put away by faster and more athletic players, there the Hornets were saying, “not so fast.”
In the end there just wasn’t enough in the tank for Huntsville to outlast Brenham as the Cubs prevailed 67-60 to advance to the area round.

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“We’ve just got to play our tempo, work hard and play defense,” junior forward Maya Perry said Monday. “Defense wins us games.”

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Bearkats get even with San Diego
After struggling to scrounge for hits for most of the game, the Bearkats delivered at the most opportune time.
With relief pitchers settling things down on the hill, slowly but surely, Sam Houston’s hitters came up big in the final innings to overcome a two-run deficit and bring home the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over San Diego on Saturday night.

February 18, 2012 2 Photos
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In a pair of hard-fought games in the first two rounds of the playoffs last week, the Lady Hornets managed to survive tough tests from Houston Stratford and Dayton and advance to the second week of the postseason.
Keeping their eyes on the short-term goals of getting through each game, the Huntsville girls can now focus their attention squarely on their Class 4A Region III quarterfinal against top-ranked Beaumont Ozen.

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Pressure cooker: Lady Hornets turn up heat on Summer Creek, win 62-29

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