High Flying Hawks Best Cottage 58 – 23

Dateline:  Atlanta, Ga.- The Lady Hawks of the Howard School came determined to flip the script on the visiting Cougars, employing overwhelming pressure defense to land a first quarter haymaker.  Ginned up by a quick five baskets, Howard kept their foot on the gas pedal en route to a 22 – 4 first period lead.  The first eight minutes proved the difference maker, as for the balance of the game, Howard only lengthend their advantage by 7 more points.  The highlights for TCS centered on the second and the fourth quarters.  In period two, four Cougar got into the scoring act, while the last quarter witnessed Cottage outscore the home towners  by three points.

GAME NOTES

Eighth grader Hannah Katz and ninth grader Finley Love supplied the only reserves for the evening, and both players checked into each quarter of play.  Katz hoisted three shots on goal, and helped harass a ballhandler into a turnover.  Love grabbed a steal, chased down a pair of rebounds, and recorded a blocked shot.

Guard Lillian Travis unleashed her inner Steph Curry when she nailed a second quarter three off a press break.  The shot marked her third trifecta of the 2021 campaign.  Travis also made an open court steal, and added 2 rebounds to her team’s total.

Together a recouping Celeste Jeoffroy and a one-handed Anika Helm (playing with an entirely wrapped hand) attempted to play center by committee.  Jeoffroy fought her way to 6 rebounds, gathered 5 steals (most of them in a fourth quarter trap induced flurry), and shot for 4 points. Helm threw back a Howard shot, and incredibly scored a hoop of her own off of a broken play in second quarter action.

Ana Mills checked in with another balanced game.  Coming back from a scary third quarter collision with the hardwoods, Mills returned to score 4 fourth period points.  For the game, she also blocked 2 shots, forced a steal, dished for 3 assists, and controlled 7 boards.

In a game where nothing seemed to work offensively for long stretches, determined drives by Alyssa Briggs remained the one constant. Four of her 10 points came from the foul line, as forcing the ball into the lane often enticed the defenders to get overly active with their hands.  Briggs also led her team with 5 steals, and 14 rebounds, while also adding an assist into the mix as well.