Bulldogs hold on to top Hawks in overtime
PALMDALE — It felt like a playoff game, and yet it was only the Golden League opener for Knight and Highland.
It was that type of atmosphere. It had that feel.
And, in the end, it was a shame that one team had to lose.
The Hawks battled back after trailing the entire game to send the game into overtime, but the Bulldogs held on for a thrilling 46-44 victory, Tuesday evening at Highland High School.
“It was all heart. Entering overtime, I told the girls that we have to finish,” Highland head coach Jeff Sisson said. “Everybody had to step up because we were down players. It was a very competitive game. Give (Knight) props. They played very hard; both teams did. Both teams fought.”
The Bulldogs (2-2, 1-0) held a slim 25-24 lead entering the fourth quarter, after the Hawks clawed their way back into the game, taking advantage of several Highland miscues.
In fact, Knight (3-3, 0-1) took its first lead of the game, 29-28, following a layup by Asha Fudge with 4:30 remaining. Highland’s Maya Callis hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 remaining to put her team back up 32-30.
The Bulldogs led 35-30 before Knight’s Alia Tate hit a bucket to trim the lead to 35-32.
“I thought we did well,” Tate said. “I feel like we could have beat them. We played off and on today. We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game. We
just have to erase this one and move on. The more we play together, the more we’ll trust each other on the court.”
Tate missed a 3-pointer with her team trailing by three. The Bulldogs’ Zaniyah Wyatt hit a bucket to put her team up 37-32 with 18 seconds left in regulation.
Tate’s sister, Amia, then dribbled down the court and promptly netted a WNBA range 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-35 as the Hawks called a timeout.
Highland was called for a 5-second violation as it failed to inbound the ball, giving it back to Knight. Amia Tate missed a 3-pointer to put her team up, but the offensive rebound was collected by Riley Asp, who put back the miss, sending the game into overtime.
“We should have taken that dub,” said Amia Tate, who finished with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. “I know we’re able to beat that team. We just have to take care of the ball more. Sometimes we’re in too much of a rush. We have to slow things down. It’s very disappointing. We worked so hard to send the game into overtime and lose by two.”
Wyatt led all scorers with 21 points, many of those coming off easy fast-break layups. The Bulldogs were playing without two starters due to illness, so they were forced to pull up two junior varsity players. One of those, Tatiana Varner, finished with nine points. Athieng Bol, who was plagued by foul trouble the entire night and eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter, added seven for Highland.
Alia Tate led her team with 15 points. Asp and Fudge added five points each for the Hawks.
The extra session was just as good as its predecessor as both teams went back-and-forth. A putback by Alia Tate tied the score 44-44 with 52 seconds remaining. Following a couple of opportunities, Wyatt hit a jumper with 18 seconds left, which proved to be the game winner.
After Knight missed a shot, Highland was forced to take the ball out of bounds and once again failed to inbounds the ball, giving the Hawks one final chance. They missed a 3-pointer and this time a putback by Asp unfortunately missed as time expired.
“Knight was a lot better than I expected them to be,” Wyatt said. My main thing tonight is I wanted to drive to the basket and quarterback the team. Even though the game was so close, I didn’t let things get to me. This was a big victory for us to open the season.”