By Michael Calhoun, sports intern
BIRMINGHAM – The Center Point girls’ basketball team was defeated by Charles Henderson, 68-28, behind a stellar defensive effort that held the Eagles to just 14 second half points despite a first half where the Eagles managed to stay within striking distance.
The Eagles went scoreless for over 14 minutes throughout the second half as the Trojans increased a 13-point halftime lead to a 40-point blowout.
Center Point concludes the season with 23-6 record. The defeat was just the second loss for the Lady Eagles in the calendar year.
Charles Henderson used an outside approach to start the game. The Trojans went 5-for-9 from the 3-point line in the first quarter. They opened the game on an 11-2 run, but Center Point cobbled together a 6-0 run to end the first quarter trailing, 17-13.
“Gills and I are good friends and I respect her and her team a lot,” Charles Henderson head coach Dyneshia Jones said. “We knew going in they would play a box and one defense, so I told the girls we needed to be able to shoot the ball effectively to get them out of it so that led to the outside approach early on.”
Charles Henderson began the second quarter on an 8-0 run to pull out to a 25-13 lead. Charles Henderson did not score a field goal over the final 3:23 of the second quarter, scoring just one free throw with two seconds left in the half; however, Center Point did not score a point in the second quarter. Yet the Eagles trailed by only 13 points at half, 26-13.
The Eagles’ scoring drought continued into the third quarter as Charles Henderson added upon its scoring run from the second quarter. The Trojans opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run that increased their overall run to 18-0. The Eagles were outscored in the quarter 24-7 and trailed by 30 points going into the fourth.
“It’s tough to play when the ball isn’t going through the basket,” Center Point head coach Tamera Gills said. “I was proud of my girls for the way they played defense in the second quarter to give us a chance in the second half only being down 13, but it’s tough to continue to play with that level of intensity when the ball isn’t going through the basket for that long.”
The final quarter was much of the same for the Eagles as Charles Henderson used a run of 11-3 to outscore Center Point, 18-8, in the fourth to cruise into the Class 5A state championship game.
The Eagles were paced by Aniyah Brooks and Tanita Swift, both of whom scored 10 points.
“I told them from the beginning of the season we would end up here and that’s exactly what we did,” Gills said. “Sadly, this year had to end but we pull a lot of positives from this year. We spend the first half of the season trying to find our identity and I am proud of the way the girls grew up over the course of the season. I expect us to continue to work hard next season and do everything we can to be back here next year.”
Center Point 28 | Charles Hend. 68
FinalThe Eagles season comes to a close in the Final Four against an undefeated Charles Henderson team. pic.twitter.com/H7oyEDvVYA
— Joshua Huff (@JH_NewEra) February 26, 2020