Wolves overcome foul issues in win
5A-SOUTH GIRLS LAKE HAMILTON 45, BENTON 40
BENTON — The Lake Hamilton girls basketball team overcame foul trouble and the shaky offense that followed to defeat Benton 45-40 on Tuesday night and moved into first place in the 5A-South Conference standings.
Less than a minute into the second half and leading 25-19, Lake Hamilton was forced to sit sophomore forward Saniyah Cook after she picked up her fourth foul. Shortly thereafter, senior point guard Brooklyn Braughton took a seat beside her with fourth.
Just before Braughton picked up her fourth on a blocking call, Lake Hamilton (20-7, 12-1 5A-Central) looked to be in the process of building the first substantial lead either team had mustered in their two matchups this season.
In the second quarter, Cook, Hayley Fergusen and Braylee Winfrey combined for 15 of Lake Hamilton’s 17 points, its highest-scoring quarter, to create the halftime lead.
“They brought a physical brand of basketball in here tonight, and we didn’t really step up to it,” Benton Coach Jerry Chumley said. “We weren’t up to that challenge in the first half. Second half, I thought we played a lot stronger, a lot tougher. We just didn’t make the critical plays when we had opportunities.”
But the absence of Braughton, the Wolves’ leader and shot-creator, was like the jolt of a parking brake on a racetrack in the second half.
“I know it’s kind of a cliche to say, ‘Next man up,’ but that’s where we were at,” Lake Hamilton Coach Blake Condley said. “There was nothing we could do. The next girl coming in needs to be ready to play her role. We got all the confidence in the world in those girls coming in, and they did it tonight.”
While Lake Hamilton looked for someone to step up, Lexie Duck did just that for the Panthers (16-10, 12-2). The junior forward scored 10 of her team-high 19 points in the second half as Benton cut Lake Hamilton’s lead to two possessions.
“We just changed our mindset a little bit there late in the game and started playing more downhill, trying to get to the rim more and made a game out of it,” Chumley said.
Braughton checked back in with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to help guide the Wolves to a win. Less than 60 seconds after her return, she scored with a breakaway layup.
“With Brooklyn, we’ve got a three-year starter [that’s] played a ton of minutes,” Condley said. “She knows all the plays that we’re wanting to run and what we’re trying to do. Even when she’s on the bench, you can hear her nonstop communicating with her teammates, trying to get them in the right places. That’s what you need to be able to win games like this; you need players that are going to lead whenever they’re out there on the floor.”
Ferguson led the Wolves with 14 points, followed by Winfrey with 11.
“I’m just so thankful to get out of here with a win,” Condley said. “We felt very fortunate at our place when they beat us by one, so we had told the girls, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to get them by two here.’ ”