After going without a field goal in the opening minutes Saturday night, the Columbus High School girls basketball team found its rhythm at the free-throw line.
Eleven of the Lady Falcons’ first 19 points came at the charity stripe before guard Kiandria Patterson took over to lead Columbus to a 64-38 victory against Lawrence County on Saturday on the second day of the 15th annual Joe Horne Christmas Classic.
In the late game, Cameron Golden had a game-high 22 points to lead Ridgeway (Tenn.) to a 70-59 victory against Starkville.
Gavin Ware had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.
In the Columbus High girls game, Patterson led all scorers with 29 points, including 16 in the first 16 minutes.
“Everybody on this team seems to know now when we can’t generate any offense from the outside then we have to drive it to the hole,” said Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston, whose team improved to 9-1.
Lawrence County (7-5) relied on its pressure defense to cause turnovers, to score in transition to get back into the game, and to turn what looked to be a blowout into a 10-point deficit at halftime.
“I’m proud to say the effort was there and thought we could just keep chipping away to pull off an upset,” Lawrence County coach Vicki Rutland said. “What we’ll take from this is the competition we needed to prepare us for our district.”
Guard Mary Margaret McLaurin had 14 points to lead Lawrence County.
“We had to switch to a zone to shut her down, and once we did that, they had nobody to turn to offensively to hurt us,” Hairston said. “I thought getting the ball out of her hands was a major key.”
When Lawrence County’s half-court defense chose to focus on Patterson, the dribble-drive penetration of wing player Maggie Proffitt picked up the slack. Proffitt had consistent success getting to the free-throw line and finished 9 of 11 from the stripe.
“I give Maggie all the credit in the world for being able to recognize they weren’t giving her any space to come off screen to shoot, so she had to put the ball on the floor,” Hairston said. “That’s just another element of her game she showed tonight.”
Columbus’ defense tightened in the third quarter, forcing the ball away from McLaurin and allowing only six points in that eight-minute stretch.
“They just made some great adjustment throughout the game knowing we were outmanned in the post and had us mismatched near the basket,” Rutland said. “The foul trouble really hurt our ability to pressure full court as much I would’ve liked and hurt us offensively as well.”
Tuscaloosa Central, Ala. 56, Columbus 47, OT
Robert Watson took his team led by a sophomore shooter across state lines into hostile territory against a team hosting its tournament and survived with an overtime win.
Columbus rallied from as much as 13 down in the first half to tie the score with six minutes left and force overtime, but it ran out of offense in the loss.
“The plan was to win in regulation, and I wasn’t happy when it went to overtime,” Watson said. “They gave us their best shot and we had the answers.”
A night after losing a district game to Paul W. Bryant High, Central (9-3) outscored Columbus 11-2 in the four-minute overtime session.
“All good teams have comebacks, but a better team will hold you off, and I can look at that other sideline and say he had a better team tonight,” Columbus coach Sammy Smith said.
Columbus (5-6) used its pressure defense to trigger a 19-8 run in the second half to tie the game, but Tuscaloosa Central used a four-corners slow-down with less than three minutes remaining in the game to prevent Columbus from taking the lead. Under a loud set of boos from the Columbus crowd, Watson’s team forced the Falcons to send them to the foul line.
After TCHS was unable to convert on numerous occasions, Columbus guard C.J. Scott drove the lane and hit a runner from about five feet to tie the game at 45.
“Coming out of that timeout, everybody did what they were supposed to do and C.J. was option three,” Smith said. “He executed and what more can you ask for as a coach?”
Sophomore guard Javaris Richey sparked a three-point shooting barrage that buried Columbus early and often. Richey hit seven shots from beyond the three-point arc, including five in the half to allow Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Central to take a 27-16 halftime lead.
When he wasn’t wide open, Richey caught and shot over smaller defenders early on and finished with a game-high 28 points.
“He’s been the man for his offensively all season,” Watson said. “I got a real young team, so to come in and do this here is something special.”
Tuscaloosa Central opened the game on a 14-2 run, including four treys, before the Falcons established a rhythm.
“I told them in the locker room they’re just not going to be able to make them like that and they allowed us a chance to come back,” Smith said. “They could’ve quit, but I told them to think of Joe and Mrs. Horne and realize they were blessed to play this game. They acted that way in the second half.”
Scott’s 13 points led Columbus, while Deontae Jones added 11.
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