Lady Warhawks break through offensive woes for region victory against Thomas County Central

KATHLEEN — It wasn’t easy against a physical Thomas County Central (9-11, 2-6 Region 2-5A) team, but Veterans (7-15, 3-6 Region) found a way to win 50-47 on Friday.

Their cold start put the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 13-2 through the first six minutes, and the Lady Warhawks surrendered multiple runs as they attempted to come back.

Brea Shannon’s jumper put Veterans on top for the first time all night with 6:35 left to play. Thomas County Central took the lead right back with a 7-0 run.

But they never quit.

“The girls played with a lot of fight and just a will to win. I was really proud of them,” Head coach Tracy Fendley said. “At any given time it could be easy just to break and quit. They just have not done it after our season, and they continue to fight…refuse to lose attitude.”

After relinquishing their advantage and facing a six-point deficit with 4:17 remaining, Veterans pulled out two straight buckets in the fast break. The Lady Yellow Jackets got two points to break the run, but the Lady Warhawks answered with seven more to take a 46-43 advantage with 1:55 to go.

Defensive intensity got the credit from Fendley, and Kiersten Rogers in particular came up a couple of clutch steals that led to points in the final minute.

It took as much to overcome a rough shooting night at the basket, especially in the early goings.

The 13-2 run came about because the Lady Yellow Jackets hit timely three-pointers and Veterans just could not get a shot to go.

There was some bad shooting luck, but most of it had to do with just plain misses.

The Lady Warhawks put together an 8-0 run to close out the first quarter down 15-10, but Thomas County Central’s timely triples kept them in a hole. Every time Veterans managed to score a couple of baskets, a three came along and took the wind out of their sails.

But something changed in the second half. It wasn’t quite consistent, but it was far better than it had been.

“[The] past few games we had a third-quarter drought. We just have not played really well in the third quarter, and then our last game we didn’t play well in the fourth quarter,” Fendley said. “I felt like they fought the entire game today, but really turned it up when it mattered the most.”

Veterans was able to get out in transition off of Thomas County Central turnovers. Though they gave up a run late, the comeback was in motion by the time the quarter ended.

There’s still plenty to learn from in this game, and for Fendley it’s continuing to become a more physical team.

“[Thomas County Central is] a very physical basketball team. We’ve been working to play more physical…to be able to get open on the wings has been a struggle for us,” Fendley said. “I feel like we’ve gotten better as [the] year’s progressed…We got some really good looks around the basket, and we just didn’t finish.”

UP NEXT

Veterans will play Sumter County on Monday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at home.

Thomas County Central will host Houston County on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m.