Lightning back on track with upset

Victory over previously undefeated Lions ends two-game losing streak

Long Reach girls basketball coach Kelli Cofield isn’t a believer in must-win games in December.

But on the heels of back-to-back losses, she acknowledged that her team’s matchup against Howard on Monday night was as about as close as it comes.

Battling back from an early 14-3 hole, Long Reach (2-2) grabbed the lead by halftime and held on down the stretch to end its skid with a 47-43 victory over previously undefeated No. 5 Howard (4-1).

“No banners are given out in December and I’m a big believer that you use this first month to figure out who you are and what you need to work on. But, that said, this was a huge win,” Cofield said. “This was a result that we very much needed and, honestly, it didn’t matter if it was against a great team like Howard. We needed some good energy today, regardless of the opponent, and the girls earned this.”

Haley Thompson led the way with 10 points and nine rebounds, but it was an overall team effort that led the Lightning into the winner’s circle. Jaelyn Swann (nine points), Lyric Swann (eight points), Rebecca Ford (eight points) and Arianna Briggs-Hall (seven points, nine rebounds) all delivered key baskets in big moments.

Long Reach’s defense also had a good bit to do with prevailing down the stretch, with the Lightning holding Howard scoreless for the final 4:47 of the fourth quarter to help turn a three-point deficit into the final four-point victory.

Howard coach Scott Robinson said Long Reach made his team, which was led by Anii Harris (13 points), Camille Malagar (10) and Gabby Scott (10) in the loss, pay for its mistakes.

“Credit to Long Reach, that’s a veteran squad and things that we’ve been able to get away with in our first few wins, we weren’t able to overcome them today,” Robinson said. “We gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the second half and they took advantage of those second chances. They were the physically tougher team tonight and they deserved to win.”

Howard was in control at the onset of the first quarter behind an efficient offense that saw Harris get going with drives to the basket and some timely outside shooting from Scott and Malagar. With 2:44 remaining in the opening quarter, after a 3-pointer by Scott, the Lions had opened up an 11-point cushion.

But Long Reach buckled down on defense and the shots, that had been missing early on, suddenly started to fall. The Lightning closed the first half on a 23-6 run to take a 26-20 lead into halftime.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing hands five times.

Amade layup by Marisa Sanchez-Henry (six points) with just under five minutes left put the Lions ahead 43-40.

As it turned it out, however, those were the last points Howard would score. Briggs-Hall and Thompson each made a layup to put the Lightning back in front and then Jaelyn Swann made three foul shots in the final minute to put the game out of reach.