The Catawba Ridge girls’ basketball team used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to pull away from 4A’s No. 1 ranked South Pointe Stallions and earn a 69-60 win in front of a jubilant home crowd Friday night.
Point guard Makailah Davis led all scorers with 29 points, power forward Morgan Davis chipped in 17 points, as the win pushes the Lady Copperheads to 16-4 on the season and ties them with South Pointe at 5-1 in Region 3-4A play.
With both teams even in the standings with four games to play, Catawba Ridge head coach Sheridan Pressley said her team won’t look too far ahead of itself as Catawba Ridge and South Pointe scrap for the highest seed possible ahead of the Class 4A state tournament.
“We took care of business tonight,” Pressley said. “We’ll enjoy this. But we’ll take it one game at a time. We had some things not go our way, but we kept fighting and came out on top.”
The Copperheads jumped out to a 12-6 lead early through quick layups from leading scorers Makailah and Morgan Davis, who were deadly with their speed and inside play.
Catawba Ridge jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead, thanks to a 16-2 run throughout the second quarter. The run was highlighted by two 3-pointers courtesy of Tatum Postel and back-to-back layups from Makailah Davis, including one stemming from her own steal to put the Copperheads up 29-14 that forced South Pointe, now 20-2 overall, into burning an early timeout.
“We loved the transition game,” Pressley said. “We like to get up and down. It’s nice to get the easier buckets.”
South Pointe poured on the pressure in the second half as they looked to make a comeback. The Stallions went to the foul line five times and buried seven free throws to help cut the deficit to just 11. The situation could have been worse, had Makailah Davis not hit a trey and finished a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer to give Catawba Ridge its 50th point.
Still, South Pointe nearly spoiled the party in the final eight minutes. South Pointe’s Zaria Bell scored four straight buckets by working hard in the paint, just before Jayda Givens made a steal and finished her own layup to cut the Copperheads’ lead to 54-49 with five minutes left.
The situation seemed grim when Morgan Davis fouled out early in the fourth. But unforced errors on South Pointe’s part helped Catawba Ridge seal the game out.
Two coaches on South Pointe’s bench were given technicals for arguing calls, giving Makailah Davis a chance to hit six foul shots across two visits to the free throw line.
In all, Catawba Ridge shooters attempted 14 free throws in the final five minutes. Davis hit nine of her 10 shots from the foul stripe. Brielle Windisch and Tatum Postel also fouled out as the game drew to a close, but Pressley’s bench players did what they needed to do to stay strong under pressure.
“Everybody has to do their job to be successful,” she said. “Anything can happen at the end, so it was important for them to step up.”
Catawba Ridge boys’ defense comes up clutch
Catawba Ridge’s defense held visiting South Pointe scoreless in the final three minutes of Friday night’s region contest, giving the Copperheads a boost in their hunt for the region crown with a 42-39 win over the Stallions.
Grant Lovette led Catawba Ridge, who improved to 18-4 and 4-2 in the region, with 11 points, while Brady Ambrose, Lance Barnes, and Landon Foley all picked up eight points each.
Tied at 23-all at halftime, Catawba Ridge enjoyed a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, including quick transition layups by three different Copperheads.
South Pointe’s Demari Kendrick nailed a late 3-pointer to give the Stallions a 33-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But Foley responded with a trey of his own to open the fourth, followed by buckets by Owen Elliott and Lovette to take a one-point lead.
The Copperheads then clamped down on defense with three minutes to play, holding the Stallions fruitless from several possessions. Thomas Collins had a chance from beyond the arc with 30 seconds to play, but the shot missed, and Catawba Ridge beat the trap to close out a tense win in front of plenty of supporters from both teams.
Copperheads’ head coach Brett Childers said his team couldn’t get much going on offense, but was proud of his team for finding a “scrappy” way to win.
“I’m as proud of this win as any other win we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Childers said. “Credit to (South Pointe), they’re a good defensive team. That’s a playoff win.”
