Watson Chapel girls hang on
Following two narrow defeats in Conference 4A-8 play, Watson Chapel’s girls basketball team pulled out a victory in the clutch.
DeKeira Kentle scored all eight of her points in the second half, and a balanced scoring attack helped the Wildcats take a 38-32 home win over Camden Fairview on Friday.
Chapel (4-8, 2-2 in 4A-8) raced to a 9-2 lead before Fairview (5-3, 1-1) took a 20-18 lead at halftime. Fairview center Jayia Jefferson controlled the offensive glass in the second quarter and sparked a 6-0 rally that gave the Lady Cardinals a 20-16 lead, their largest of the game.
The Wildcats turned to Kentle in the low block, and she helped them surge to a 2622 lead through three quarters, getting six points in the period on the low block. The Cardinals were held without a field goal in the quarter, going 2 for 4 from the freethrow line.
Chapel led by as many as eight points on two occasions, 30-22 and 36-28.
Fairview made it a close affair thanks to a furious defensive rally in the final 65 seconds. Jefferson scored a layup to cut into an eight-point deficit, and the Cardinals forced a turnover on the inbound pass,
only to miss two free throws. Following an offensive rebound, Tamia Dandridge sank two free throws for the Cards.
Jefferson went back to the line following a steal with 34 seconds to go, but went 0 for 2. The Wildcats turned the ball over again but sweated out a missed 3-ball that would have pulled the Cards within 36-35. Tatyana Barbee hit 2 of 4 free throws down the stretch to ice the victory.
Abriunna Dendy and Barbee each had six points for Chapel, which has now won
two of its last three games. The Wildcats, however, had suffered a one-point defeat to Crossett in its conference opener and most recently fell by two points to Magnolia.
Carmen Johnson and Jefferson each had 10 points to
pace Fairview.
The game was tied 9-9 after the first quarter.
Chapel will visit Hamburg on Tuesday and Warren on Jan. 15. Its next home game is schedule for Jan. 19 against Star City.