Lions prevent Lightning from striking twice in Howard rivalry
Howard avenges earlier loss to force tie atop standings in championship race
As much as it stung at the time, senior Taylor Addison says she and her Howard teammates have done their best to use their lone loss of the season — a 19-point setback at the hands of Long Reach at the beginning of January — as an opportunity for growth.
On the road Tuesday against the same Lightning squad, Addison and the Lions got the opportunity to showcase just how far they’ve come and didn’t waste it.
Addison scored 23 points, leading a group of four Howard players in double figures scoring, and the Lions answered an early Long Reach surge with one of their own down the stretch en route to a 69-57 victory that creates a tie for first in the Howard County standings.
“I think the first game did help us, we just knew that we didn’t give as much energy as we could have,” said Addison, who scored 18 of her points in the second half Tuesday. “Long Reach, yes they are a great team, but we also are a great team and we want to come out here and win the county championship. … We were like, we are going to come out here and give 100 percent effort every single possession, which we definitely 100 percent did.”
Howard (14-1, 20-1) and Long Reach (13-1, 14-2) have split during the regular season each of the last two years, with each squad winning on the opposing team’s home court.
The Lions have one county game left this winter — against Centennial on Thursday — and the Lightning have two — against Atholton Thursday and Marriotts Ridge on Saturday. Should both teams win out, they would share the county championship.
For Long Reach, which was led by Lyric Swann (19 points), Arianna Briggs-Hall (11) Kiana Williams (11) against Howard, a county title would be the first in program history. And that quest for hardware is something coach Kelli Cofield reminded her group about in the locker room after the loss.
“Every time you step on the floor, you want to win, so we aren’t happy with a loss. But we also can’t lose sight of the fact that this season has been and continues to be historic,”Cofield said. “To still be in a position to win a county championship is awesome and we just talked about how we aren’t going to let a loss take away the great things that we’ve done and the great things we will continue to do. I still like the position that we are in.”
For Howard, which also got 10 points apiece from Courtney Furr, Deonna Jones and Marissa Sanchez-Henry this time against the Lightning, a county championship would be the program’s third straight. Just as importantly, according to Howard coach Scott Robinson, finishing with a win would lock up the top seed in Section I of the 4A North region for the upcoming playoffs.
“The seniors have talked and we want that No. 1 seed, we know how much that means in our region and we also know we control our own destiny at this point. So you take that, and then playing against a great team like Long Reach that had already beaten us head-to-head and there was a lot at stake tonight,” Robinson said. “So I was extremely proud of the effort. There’s a great deal of respect on both sides and it’s definitely a rivalry with Long Reach that we were fortunate to come out on top of tonight.”