Lady Warhawks earn first win streak of the season with 51-40 win over Central-Macon

WARNER ROBINS — Veterans (3-6) finished their time at the Cliff Hutto Memorial Bear Brawl with two wins in a row to start their first winning streak of the season after a 51-40 win against Central-Macon (2-5).

Friday’s 65-26 final against Worth County was a dominant defensive effort as the Lady Warhawks got comfortable in their full court pressure.

“I feel like some of our girls have really settled in, especially [Kiersten Rogers and Simone Sadler],” Head coach Tracy Fendley said. “I feel like Camila [Vicioso has] really settled in and is playing up to her full potential. It took her a little while to understand that, and she did it last year in [junior varsity]. It just took her a little time to figure that out.”

Against the Lady Chargers they kept up the same energy. They hounded ball handlers and Rayven Hodridge had herself a night picking off passes left and right to help get her team extra possessions.

“Rayven Hodridge played really well for us,” Fendley said. “She scored one point, but I know she may have had a double-double with steals and rebounds. She may have led us in rebounds. What she does on the floor sometimes you can’t really keep the stat for it. But whenever you start watching her you see what she does for us out there on the floor.”

Veterans held a tight 11-9 lead after the first, but Hodridge nabbed back to back teals early in the second to push the Lady Warhawks out on a 6-2 run that blossomed into 12-4 before quarter’s end.

They held a 30-17 halftime lead but the offense soon slowed as Central tried to claw their way back into the game.

Despite the number of turnovers Veterans generated the baskets stopped being as easy. The Lady Chargers continued to pack the paint and make shots at the rim difficult, so everything that wasn’t an and-one had to be earned at the line, and there were mixed results.

Free throws and letting Central get closer than they should have been were areas Fendley wasn’t quite pleased with.

“[We missed] so many little easy buckets under the basket, we didn’t shoot well from the free throw line today,” Fendley said. “I think if we can do those two things, we have a bigger lead and I don’t know if [Central makes] that run like that. But we’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities when they’re given to us.”

The Lady Warhawks still held up on the defensive end, but without the consistent offensive output Central was able to creep back into the game with occasional free throws or a three-pointer.

With 1:18 left in the third the Lady Chargers drew within four, the closest they’d been since the first quarter, with a free throw.

One thing that held the lead up was Veterans’ rebounding, which has been one of their strengths.

Ayonna Scott and Camila Vicioso are the best with their length and height, but Syniah Rankin and Brea Shannon also contribute regularly. Vicioso went to the line often because of how often she was in the paint crashing the glass or grabbing her own misses.

She hit a free throw and Francesca Jones rebounded the second for a layup to put the Lady Warhawks up 49-36 with 3:18 to play and all but sealing their victory.

UP NEXT

Veterans will take a day off before hitting the road again to play Perry at the Panther Pit on Monday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.

Central will travel to Jefferson County for their third region game on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.