By T. Scott Boatright
In a game that had been tight from the opening tip, Choudrant Lady Aggies basketball coach Brandy Roberson knew she had to change things up while holding a seven-point advantage midway through the final stanza Friday night inside the CHS Gym.
And that change played out perfectly for the Lady Aggies as Choudrant held on for a 37-25 win over Family Community Christian School in the second game of District 2-B play.
Choudrant led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter and took a 16-14 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
But FCCS proved hard to shake and Choudrant held only a 21-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter of play.
Things started changing in that final stanza.
Choudrant began the final eight minutes of play with a 9-1 run that put them on top 30-21 with 5:59 left on the clock.
A pair of FCCS free throws cut Choudrant’s lead back down to seven, and with the Lady Warriors threatening to go on a run, Roberson called a timeout with 4:33 remaining to change things up.
“The game plan was to win the game in the full court, not the half court, because I knew they weren’t a good matchup for us because they had a lot of size,” Roberson said. “So our plan was to not let them get the ball down the court. But that didn’t work out too well.
“We got in some early foul trouble and just didn’t have a lot of intensity tonight.”
Senior Reese Brown led the Lady Aggies with 16 points, but that number likely would have been higher if she wouldn’t have gotten into early foul trouble.
“She had three fouls at that point, and I told her to go back in,” Johnson said about calling the timeout. “We had a seven-point lead at that point. They had played us in a 2-3 zone all night and I told them to pull it down and make them guard you man (defensively). I told them we’re not done scoring them, but that I wanted to make (FCCS) guard them man, because we play a little better versus man.
“We did that and I thought we moved the ball really well. We were very patient and had good shot selection in that moment.”
Those shots might not have scored points, but the fouls they forced sent the Choudrant to the free throw line nine times, with the Lady Aggies making good on 9-of-12 of those shots with Brown hitting 3-of-4, Alyssa Bell sinking 2-of-4, and Kami Young and Sadie Jones each hitting both of the charity stripe attempts they took in that final 4:33 of the contest.
Roberson admitted having Brown back out on the court running the offense was crucial at that point.
“She’s very important in that kind of situation,” Johnson said. “She has a lot of experience and has been in a lot of close game situations in the three years that I’ve been with her. So, just having her leadership and experience goes a long way.”
The fact that Choudrant’s defense only gave up a pair of free throws during that time span also played a key role in the win.
“I have four seniors this year, so the four seniors play very well together,” Roberson said. “They’ve been playing together for a while, so they just kind of know how to work off of each other, especially defensively. They know how to rotate defensively without saying a word. They do a very good job of that.”
Kat Hernandez added eight points while playing a key role defensively for the Lady Aggies.
Next up for Choudrant, which stands 18-5 overall and 2-0 in district play, will be a home game against Simsboro on Tuesday.
