Lady Commodores rally for 37-34 victory
Trailing by 17 points at halftime, the Frazier girls basketball squad rallied in the second half for a come-from-behind 37-34 victory over Imani Christian Tuesday afternoon at the Laurel Highlands Christmas Tournament.
“We had a change in attitude as a team in the second half,” Frazier coach Ken Poling said. “We worked together on defense and controlled the tempo. We believed in ourselves and when we do that, we are a different team. There were no quit in the girls today.”
After going on a 15-2 run in the third quarter, the Lady Commodores (3-4) took their first lead of the day after a 3-pointer by Cassidy Guiser with 5:52 left in the fourth.
The Lady Saints (7-3) answered back with a basket to retake the lead, but Frazier ended the contest on an 8-4 spurt to secure the tournament triumph.
“It’s always about attitude and effort with us,” Poling said. “When we do the little things like boxing out or making the outlet pass, we give ourselves a better chance to win. When we don’t do the little things, we become one-dimensional and not a good team.”
Guiser led all scorers with 13 points, all of which came in the second half, while Hannah Fell added 10 points in the win.
Moriah Smith, Dalezsa Regan and Channing Jones all tallied 10 points each for Imani Christian.
Frazier’s lone basket in the opening eight minutes was by Kelsey Holp, as the Lady Commodores trailed 18-2 at the end of one quarter.
After Frazier started the second stanza on a 5-2 run, Imani Christian bounced back with a 6-2 spurt to end the first half. The Lady Saints held a 26-9 lead at intermission.
The Lady Commodores’ defense was stingy in the final 16 minutes of play, only allowing eight points in the second half and slowed down Jones, who is 6-foot-6, for no points in the final three quarters of the game.
“We knew our assignments on defense,” Poling said. “We played as a unit and that’s the only way we can win. We are small and when you have to defend a girl that’s 6-6, you need the whole defense to stop her. I thought Hannah did an excellent job with her on the inside and the other players did a nice job of collapsing on the inside on her.”
Frazier, whose four losses this year has come by a combined 19 points, held the edge off the bench, outscoring Imani Christian by an 18-0 margin.