Putting it together
Oakwood girls win crosstown clash
This past volleyball season, the Oakwood Christian Lady Eagles won a match against a GHSA opponent — several, in fact — becoming the first team in school history to do so in any sport.
Last Monday night, many of those same Lady Eagle athletes helped make a little history again, this time on their own home basketball court.
Lily Green rattled in a 12-foot jumper with 7.5 seconds left in overtime and OCA held on for a 45-43 win over Chickamauga crosstown foe Gordon Lee.
“We finally were able to put everything together,” head coach Kraig Givens said about the program’s first-ever win over a GHSA opponent in the sport. “The girls are super excited.”
The Lady Eagles used to 12-0 first-quarter run to erase an early 5-0 deficit and they took a 22-19 lead into halftime. OCA briefly went up by six in the third quarter, but the Lady Trojans fought back to end the third quarter tied at 32 and the game would eventually go to overtime knotted at 39.
An Avery Green 3-pointer a minute into the extra session put the home team back up by three points and the lead was still three after an exchange of free throws over the next 22 seconds.
Gordon Lee tied it up on three Emma McGraw free throws, but the Lady Eagles were able to get the ball to Lily Green in the closing seconds and the senior would hit a step-back jumper in the lane to put her team up by two.
OCA’S Mana Gilchrist sealed the victory by intercepting Gordon Lee’s inbound with 3.8 seconds to play. The final theft was Gilchrist’s third of the night as the freshman also added four blocks to go with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Lily Green had a team-high 16 points and seven boards, while Grayson Broadrick added eight points. Four points from Avery Green, three by Cheyenne Simpson and one from Anslee Tucker rounded out the scoring.
Oakwood girls 57, Cleveland Christian 20
Freshman Cadyn Cahill had 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals as the Lady Eagles improved to 7-2 with a home victory last Tuesday, their fourth consecutive victory.
Simpson, another rookie, scored 15 points and added five rebounds, three assists and
three steals. Mckenley Baggett had seven points, five boards, three assists and five steals, while Raleigh Suits scored six
points to go with two assists and two steals.
Broadrick finished the night with four points, four rebounds and five assists. Tucker grabbed five boards and dished out four assists to go with one steal and two points. Avery Green added
two points, two rebounds and a steal. Lily Green had two points, two boards, a steal and a block, while Caroline Tindell pulled down five rebounds and added one assist, one steal and one point. Gilchrist had two steals to round out the stats.