Central Holmes girls basketball coach Niki Edwards said teams generally come off the Christmas break and struggle with shooting.
That wasn’t the case on Friday as the Lady Trojans used a 26-point second quarter to take a 57-37 win over Newton County Academy in the Benton Tournament.
The Trojans followed suit as they took a 52-41 win over the Generals.
Central Holmes was scheduled to play again in the Benton Tournament on Saturday against Calhoun Academy. Those games were not available because of an early press deadline.
After the first of the year, Central Holmes will travel to Manchester on Thursday, Jan. 4 and then return to district play as they travel to West Point on Friday, Jan. 5 to take on Oak Hill.
Central Holmes girls 57,
Newton County Academy 37
The Lady Trojans came back from the Christmas break and took a 20-point win over the Lady Generals on Friday night.
In a slow-paced game, the Lady Generals came out and led 9-8 at the end of the first period. But the Lady Trojans turned up the pace in the second period and outscored the Lady Generals 26-10 to take a 34-19 lead at the half.
“The first quarter we didn’t even realize we were playing basketball,” Niki Edwards said. “We kind of got woke up. Every game since the first of the year, we have had one quarter like that. It’s usually the third quarter, but it was the first. We played a little better on defense with our press, got some steals and ran the floor. That was the only quarter we ran the floor. They ran a zone the whole time until the fourth and we were able to hit some outside shots. I was surprised at how well we shot the ball from the outside. And I was surprised at how we looked out of shape. It’s crazy how it can fall off in just a short time.”
The second half was back and forth as each team scored 14 points in the third period and Central Holmes led 48-33 at the end of the third. Central Holmes outscored NCA 9-4 in the fourth for the final margin.
Sophomore Cameron Martin led the Lady Trojans with 18 points. McKaylee Polk and McKenna Polk each had 12 points apiece for the Lady Trojans.
Central Holmes boys 52,
Newton County Academy 41
After a tight first quarter, the Trojans pulled away in the second half to beat the Generals by 11 on Friday.
NCA led 8-7 at the end of the first period before Central Holmes outscored the Generals 15-11 in the second to take a 22-19 lead at the half.
The Trojans started to pull away in the second half as they outscored the Generals 18-12 in the third to take a 40-31 lead into the fourth. Central Holmes outscored NCA 10-8 in the fourth to take the win.
Jaylin Ford led a balanced scoring attack for the Trojans with 12 points while Lake Melton, Noah Burton and Lawrence Wiley each had 10 points apiece.
