The Shadow
The Bath County post players got in early foul trouble and the Covington girls basketball team capitalized on the opportunity as they topped the Chargers 58-44 at the Cougar Den Wednesday night.
The win was the ninth straight for the Lady Cougars after going 3-6 in their first nine games of the season.
Covington’s last loss came last year (December 20, 2011) when they lost 43-42 to The First Academy at the KSA Events Classic in Orlando, Fla.
With Bath County’s post players – Mikayla Colaw and Jessie O’Conner – out, the Lady Cougars dominated the glass, outrebounding the Chargers 43-28.
“We had no answer for (Leteashia) Clarke inside once Mikayla (Colaw) and Jessie got into foul trouble,” said Bath County coach Keith Lindsay. “Covington is a tough matchup. They’ve got Sa’Mone (Moore) and Autumn (Phillips) who can hurt you from outside and then you’ve got Clarke inside who can just take the paint over with her size.”
Covington sophomore point guard Sa’Mone Moore was her steady self, pouring in a game-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead Covington to victory, while Clarke added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
“It was a total team effort tonight,” said Cougar coach Mark Pifer. “Both teams got into foul trouble early in the game and our bench really did a good job of coming in and doing what needed to be done.”
Bath County led 8-7 late in the first quarter after Mikayla Colaw hit 1-of-2 at the line, but Phillips dished to Briana Moore for a short jumper to put Covington back on top and Sa’Mone Moore added a late lay-up to give the Cougars an 11-8 lead after one quarter.
Moore pulled up for a three-ball from the right wing to open the second quarter scoring and Autumn Phillips’ first triple of the game gave Covington an 18-12 lead with 3:31 to play in the first half.
An O’Conner stickback and a free throw from Taylor Grubbs pulled the Chargers within three (18-15), but Brittany Keyser’s lay-up pushed the Cougars’ lead back to five.
Alexa Faraone hit the first of her five three-pointers with 23 seconds left in the first half to pull BC within two (20-18), but Moore countered with a triple from the corner with 10 seconds to go to give the Cougars a 23-18 lead at the half.
Mary Woodson’s foul line jumper opened the third quarter scoring and kick started a 7-0 Covington run that increased the Cougars’ lead to 12.
Faraone finally ended Bath County’s drought with a three-pointer with 4:48 left in the third quarter. An old-fashioned three-point play from Sa’Mone Moore followed by a Phillips three-pointer increased Covington’s lead to 40-25 as they led 42-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
Covington led 48-32 with 4:42 to play before the Chargers made a final push.
Faraone started a 9-0 BC run with a three-pointer, Ford dished to Kayla Lindsay, Faraone added another trey and O’Conner hit 1-of-2 at the stripe to cut the Chargers’ deficit to seven, 48-41.
That would be as close as the Chargers would get as the Lady Cougars countered with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 56-41 lead as they cruised down the stretch to the 58-44 win over their district rival.
“I thought Leteashia came out and played great in the second half,” said Pifer. “I really don’t think we came out ready to play tonight, but Bath’s size presents us problems,” added the CHS coach. “Jailyn is a big point guard, but I thought Brittany, Daylin and Sa’Mone really did a good job out front guarding her tonight.”
Faraone finished with 15 points to lead Bath County, while O’Conner added eight points.
“When our post players got into foul trouble we were doomed because we had people playing out of position,” said Lindsay. “They started crashing the boards. They would miss their initial shot, but get the rebound and put points on the board and they never looked back from there.
“We’re still improving with each game. I told the girls that in the locker room. We’re going to surprise somebody one night,” added Lindsay.
Bath County (3-3 Pioneer, 9-8) returns to the floor Friday at home in a pivotal Pioneer District matchup against James River.
Covington also returns to action Friday night on the road at Highland County.
The BC jayvees opened the night with a 31-20 win over the Covington junior varsity team.
Kendal Woodzell scored a game-high 19 points to lead Bath County, while Miranda Matheny added six points. Whitney Shifflett scored four points and Kiwi Plecker scored two points each in the win.
Kourtney Tyson led Covington with 10 points, while Abbie Zamana scored four. Shalia Notice, Syndall Moats and Deena Hawkins rounded out the CHS scoring with two points apiece.
