NEW HOPE — Free throws will both win and lose you games, and on Tuesday, both ends of the spectrum were experienced between West Point and New Hope.
Coming off a massive 18-4 run that got the Trojans from a 10-point deficit to a four-point lead in the third quarter, it seemed like the entire complexion of the game had changed in favor of New Hope, but the Trojans ended up shooting themselves in the foot in the most crucial part of the game.
Fifteen missed free throws haunted New Hope while West Point was near-automatic from the line in the fourth quarter as the Green Wave came back to win, 61-56.
“We started the half out with some key players in foul trouble,” West Point head coach Marquis Burnett said. “We had to sit them and save some minutes, so (New Hope) got the momentum, but we stayed aggressive, tried to stay in the game until they got back in and then we started attacking the paint and knocked down free throws.”
In the second half, West Point (15-4) missed just four foul shots, going 14 of 18 overall, with Tabuis Blanchard relied upon heavily from the line.
The first half saw him struggle shooting free throws, going 3 for 6, but he redeemed himself in the second half, where he went 7 of 10, scoring nine of his team-leading 17 points over that time.
“The win was big for us because last year, they put us out of the playoffs,” Blanchard said. “We came in hungry and that win meant a lot more to us than it did to them. We wanted it more.”
Foul trouble was especially big for West Point, who had just eight players on Tuesday, a very light bench.
Once one player got into foul trouble, Burnett’s hand was forced despite few other options at his disposal.
However, West Point continued to stay in the game with the ineptitude of the Trojans (13-8) at the foul line.
“When you miss 15 free throws in a close ballgame like that, it’s tough to win,” New Hope head coach Drew McBrayer said. “We ran out of a little bit of steam late in the third quarter, early in the fourth quarter, and let them come back and take control of the game … We just have to go to work and try to get better every day.”
West Point travels to West Lowndes at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, looking to extend its winning streak while New Hope hosts Columbus at 7:30 p.m. Friday, looking to start a new one.
New Hope girls 57, West Point 49
NEW HOPE — The first half wasn’t necessarily a pretty one from either the New Hope or West Point girls Tuesday night as the Trojans took a 22-18 lead into halftime.
While the Trojans were out in front, neither team had taken the bull by the horns yet and taken over the game — until the first few minutes of the third quarter.
New Hope came out full throttle, overwhelming West Point with its press and up-tempo offense as the Trojans rattled off a 15-4 run, extending the lead to as much as 15 points over the Green Wave.
West Point was far from out of the game, cutting the deficit to as little as three points in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as it would come to a win as New Hope survived a late scare with a 57-49 victory.
“I knew that was coming,” New Hope head coach Nick Christy said. “We talked about it at halftime. We were really focused on the first three or four minutes of the third quarter and really putting in that effort and trying to get that lead out more, and we were able to do that.”
That run to begin the third quarter is really what separated New Hope on Tuesday. West Point started to run a full-court press of its own to find a way back into the game.
It definitely worked as the Green Wave cut a double-digit deficit down to single digits, but their press got exposed heavily as the Trojans (8-8, 3-0 in district) had an ample amount of two-on-one fast breaks that resulted in easy layups.
“We worked as a team to push through,” New Hope junior forward Amiya Hill said. “At first, we were making some stupid passes, but we finally worked together as a team and talked to each other so we could work it out and get through the press.”
Hill was one of the major benefactors of that for New Hope, scoring 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half.
New Hope’s offense turned up a notch, doubling its first-half scoring total in the second half with 35 points, outscoring the Green Wave 18-14 in that third quarter.
As New Hope went on a 15-4 run, West Point kept the deficit close with a 9-4 run to close out the third, turning that into a 14-4 run overall.
Taylor Fair, Malajae Robinson and Dukiana Jones fueled a sizable Green Wave comeback, but also found themselves in foul trouble late as Robinson and Jones both finished with four fouls.
In the end, it was careless mistakes and points off turnovers that separated the Trojans from the Green Wave to improve to 3-0 in district play.
“I felt like, for the most part, we limited our mistakes in this game,” Christy said. “We felt like we could guard them. Kudos to the girls for running those plays well. We had some lapses as everyone does, but I felt like our girls executed the game plan.”
New Hope looks to go 4-0 in district play, hosting Columbus at 6 p.m. Friday while West Point will regroup and play West Lowndes at 6 p.m. Saturday.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
