Cathedral unites in win vs. Huntington

Published 12:05 am Sunday, January 10, 2010

FERRIDAY — When the Cathedral School varsity girls trailed Huntington School 20-15 at the half, there probably weren’t many who believed the Lady Green Wave could mount a comeback.

Despite only being down five points, Cathedral showed itself as prone to long scoring droughts, and its teamwork was, at best, disjointed.

In the second half, however, the Lady Green Wave stepped up on defense, and rode a strong fourth quarter to a hard-fought 32-29 victory Saturday afternoon.

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Cathedral head coach Bernita Dunbar said the improved teamwork in the second half is what brought her players around.

“Actually playing as a team, coming together and hustling, made the difference,” Dunbar said. “Once we started to hustle, that’s when we got the job done.”

Cathedral led 9-3 after the first quarter, but managed just six points in the second quarter, and didn’t score in its final three minutes. Meanwhile, the Lady Green Wave had no answer for Huntington’s Abi Brown, who took command in the second and scored 12 of the Lady Hounds’ 17 points in that quarter.

“She’s someone who’s always had the ability, but hasn’t always had confidence in herself,” Huntington head coach Edwin White said. “She’s gained confidence as the season’s gone on. It’s her energy that we feed off of. As she goes, we go.”

The third quarter is when the turnaround began for Cathedral. The Lady Green Wave held Huntington to just five points in the third, while scoring nine and making it 25-24 Huntington at the end of three.

The Lady Hounds scored first on a 2-pointer by Brown, but Cathedral tied it up 27-27 on a free throw shot and 2-point basket by Blair Brooks. Brown then hit another 2-pointer to put the Hounds up 29-27 with 2:18 to go.

That would be her last basket of the night, however, as she fouled out on the next Cathedral possession. The Lady Hounds failed to hit another basket after Brown was forced to leave the game.

“When Brown fouled out, I think our kids got rattled there at the end,” White said.

Cathedral scored the rest of its baskets on free throws. Ana Perry, Epiphany Jackson and Mae Durkin were each 1-for-2 from the line, and Jackson banked two more free throws with 17 seconds left to put the game away.

“Holding them scoreless in the final two minutes was big,” Dunbar said. “They stepped up.”

Perry led Cathedral in scoring with 12 points. Durkin and Jackson each added five points.

Brown finished the game with 17 points for Huntington.

Cathedral improved to 5-7 on the season, 1-1 in district play.

Cathedral boys 81,

Huntington 62

Collin Hammons led the Green Wave in scoring with 23 points as they pounded Huntington Saturday.

Carl Hammitte added 14 points for Cathedral, and Daniel Huffines finished with 10 points.

“I thought we did a really good job with the press,” Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said. “We played with a lot of energy, which created turnovers for us.”

Huntington’s Jess Dossett finished the game with 17 points. Kevin Brown had 16 points and Garrett Vinson tallied 11.

Cathedral improved to 6-6 overall, 1-1 in district play.