Lady Hawks rally past BHS; Dawgs score 41 in 4th period
HARDIN VALLEY — Hardin Valley Academy’s girls basketball team notched a comeback victory in a key District 4-AAA game Friday night, Dec. 1, at HVA.
The Lady Hawks erased a nine-point deficit en route to defeating powerful Bearden 51-46.
“We just kept chipping away," HVA head coach Jennifer Galloway said.
Meanwhile, the Hawks boys basketball team played District 4-AAA favorite Bearden evenly for three quarters. The two rivals were knotted in a 47-47 deadlock heading into the fourth quarter.
But with the game’s outcome hanging in the balance, the Bulldogs turned up the offensive pressure — scoring 41 points in the fourth quarter — for an 88-63 victory (more on this game later in the story).
The Lady Hawks (6-1 overall, 3-0 in the district) picked up a crucial early-season win, but Bearden (6-3, 1-2) opened a 14-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.
After the break, HVA senior center Abbey Cornelius would assume control of the contest. She scored 12 of her game-high 22 points over the final 16 minutes.
“Abbey had 17 rebounds and she did well inside against [Grace] van Rij (who finished the night with six points) and (Jakhyia) Davis (11). Bearden is a great team and they’re very well-coached," Galloway said.
“I really thought Abbey did a good job leading them,” Lady Bulldogs coach Justin Underwood said. “I thought she had a great game.
“We just didn’t make some shots that usually go down for us.”
Trinity Lee, senior guard, led Bearden with 14 points. Annaka Hall, junior guard, finished with 10 for the Lady Bulldogs, who held a slim 32-30 edge after three frames.
Paige Gentry scored 10 points and Lizzie Davis added eight (all from the free throw line) for the Lady Hawks, who have now beaten the Lady Bulldogs three consecutive times dating back to last season.
Jeremy Parrott, BHS boys head coach, said, “You never give back a conference win on the road because they’re so hard to get."
The Bulldogs (10-0 overall, 3-0 in District 4-AAA entering the week) boasted a balanced offensive attack on this night against Hardin Valley (6-2, 1-2).
Shamarcus Brown led Bearden with 20 points. Ques Glover, who battled foul trouble early and sat out the second quarter, added 18 points. Trent Stephney had 16. Drew Pember scored 15 and Justin Ketterl finished with nine.
Aaron Dykes and Tanner White each scored 18 points for HVA while Jordan Ewing finished with 12.
“Tonight, we were more balanced than we have been,” Parrott said. “Shamarcus always seems to play well against Hardin Valley for some reason.”
“We played well for three quarters and I was really proud of our guys for the way they played,” Shane Chambers, Hawks head coach, said. “But in the fourth quarter we just didn’t quite have enough. We had too many turnovers and Bearden is too good of a team for you to make those kinds of mistakes.”
