Fourth quarter scoring outburst elevates Colonial Heights over Charles City

Charles City's Anija Brown (20) looks for a passing lane around Colonial Heights' Zeabrianna Henderson as teammate Milla Mantell (23) looks to set a pick.

Robb Johnson photo

After winning their season opener by 40 points, Charles City’s Lady Panthers opened its home slate against a tougher opponent in the visiting Colonial Heights Lady Colonials. For the visitors, they would find that the team of seven Lady Panthers wouldn’t bow out of the contest so easily.

But for the hosts, a futile fourth quarter saw Colonial Heights outscore Charles City 23-2 to catapult the visitors to a 58-26 victory.

Colonial Heights’ Jayla Stith opened the scoring for the visitors, as they strung together an 11-0 run to take an early double digit last. Only free throws mustered by Charles City’s Skye Bradby and Alexis Williams’ accounted for the first quarter points for the hosts.

But Charles City got going after Bradby’s close jumper notched the first field goal for the hosts and sparked a 6-2 run. The Lady Panthers’ defense also showed improvement from the first quarter, helping the hosts cut the gap to eight (26-18) as they headed into the halftime break.

Colonial Heights’ began to take advantage, utilizing their depth and size to overwhelm the smaller Lady Panthers. But that size also proved detrimental, as three Lady Colonial starters were saddled with four fouls midway through the third quarter, putting the hosts in the penalty. But Charles City could not take advantage, shooting a dismal nine of 20 from the charity stripe. With the transition into the fourth quarter, Colonial Heights held the Lady Panthers to one bucket in the final frame to close out the contest and leave with the win.

Charles City’s first-year head coach Hailey Holmes looked at the positives and explained the learning curve for her team.

“We did not do bad on defense,” she said, complimenting her team. “On offense, we just could not score.

“A lot of our girls just did not see the floor tonight,” Holmes continued. “We did not look inside or see the openings in the corner and that is what ultimately hurt us.”

The head coach also pointed out that she will use the 23-2 run made by Colonial Heights as a learning tool for her team.

“For us to get better, we have to put up more shots, see the floor better, and be better at fast breaks,” Holmes added. “We are a small team, so we have everybody playing different positions. Right now, our biggest thing is working on basketball IQ.”

Williams finished in double figures for the Lady Panthers (1-1) with 15 points. Bradby tossed in eight points, Nijah Johnson contributed two, and Janiya Washington chipped in with one.

Stith’s 22 points for Colonial Heights (2-0) led all scorers in the contest.