Lady Ponies ride into Charles City, ride out with win

By Andre Jones | December 18, 2017 11:34 pm

Charles City's Jaelah Wyatt (1) tries to breakaway from Chincoteague's Caroline Thornton.

Andre' Jones photo

The phrase “one trick pony” probably doesn’t apply to Chincoteague’s Caroline Thornton. But to Charles City’s Lady Panthers, it was more than a statement.

Thornton scored 24 points and orchestrated several other baskets for teammates the visiting Chincoteague Lady Ponies cruised to a 56-28 victory over Charles City in the Dec. 18 clash.

Thornton wasted no time putting the visitors up for good. Four lay-ups and two free throws along with an assist by the junior forward propelled Chincoteague to a quick 16-0 lead. Only a Skye Bradby three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the open quarter accounted for the lone basket for the Lady Panthers.

But Bradby’s basket sparked an offensive spurt by the hosts’ Alexis Williams. Williams connected with a baseline jumper and followed it up with a lay-in. Tack on two free throws and Charles City had responded with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit into single digits (16-9).

But the Lady Ponies quickly deciphered the hosts’ zone defense. Another basket by Thornton with an assist to Caroline Shelley returned the lead to double digits. Despite Williams adding two more from the charity stripe, Thornton’s back-to-back buckets along with an assist to Alanna Hall catapulted the visitors to a 29-13 halftime advantage. Chincoteague’s 10-0 run to start the third quarter would be enough to outdistance themselves for the remainder of the game.

After the contest, Lady Panther head coach Antoine King commented about the lack of bodies on the team.

“We got tired tonight and we tried to substitute to get everybody a blow,” he said, pointing to his roster of nine players. “But that’s no excuse because we aren’t communicating on the floor.

“Tonight, we also played a lot of selfish basketball,” King continued when asked out the offensive execution. “We got to see the floor better. We need to look up and have to get others to see that we have people open.”

Charles City (0-6) received a team-high 17 points from Williams, while Bradby also finished in double figures with 10. Jaelah Wyatt chipped in one to round out the scoring.

Chincoteague’s Thornton led all scorers in the contest with her 24 points.