Lady Chargers run out of chances

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Westview came up with two big shots late in Saturday night’s District 13AA Tournament championship game — one to force overtime and one to take a lead in that extra period.
The Lady Chargers would not get a third shot to win.
Covington’s Ashia Jones banked in a shot from the left block off a drive and feed from Precious Harvey with nine seconds remaining in overtime, and then LeShaundra Somerville reached down to swat away a dribble along the baseline that preserved a 50-49 win in a battle of Top 10 teams.
“She’s a good player,” Westview head coach Sean Stephenson said of Harvey. “She made a good play to get it to Jones, and then Jones made a good shot. I thought we had a chance at the end to get a good look. But, they kind of jumped us and we put it on the floor and just fumbled it. I thought we had a chance to at least get a shot up.”
Both teams had their chances to win all the way down to the final horn despite some mistakes.
Before driving through the lane to hit Jones underneath with a pass in traffic, Harvey had missed four straight free throws, including two bonus front ends, and went to the bench in the fifth frame with a knee injury.
Westview then held a 49-48 lead on Tiffany Rechis’ 3-pointer with 1:30 to play in the overtime but failed to extend the lead a minute later when Kaitlyn Harrelson missed the front end of a bonus.
Harvey and Precious Dyson both hit treys in the first quarter to put Covington ahead 13-5 past the midway point of the first quarter. But, Covington was struggling to consistently run its offense against Westview’s 2-3 zone, a problem it would not solve all night.
Meanwhile, the Weakley Countians stormed back at the end of the first period behind 3-pointers from Teddy Vincent and Kaley Leyhue to go ahead 15-13 at the end of the first frame.
Westview could not maintain the momentum, though, and Covington went back in front at 17-15 at 5:38 on baskets by Janekia Mason and Jones in the paint.
Jones scored inside again 10 seconds later before Rechis broke Westview’s silence. Covington then ran off nine more points for a 28-17 lead and went into a stall after Rechis scored.
Covington ran more than three minutes off the clock but did not get off a good shot to close the half and held a 28-19 advantage at the break.
“We put ourselves in a big hole in the second quarter with only four points,” Stephenson said. “We had the lead and then couldn’t score. We fought, scrapped and battled to get back in it, but give them credit for making a big play at the end.”
Vincent had 12 points in the third period, including a pair triples to get as close as 36-33 late. Jones scored twice, and then Harvey hit a pair of field goals to hold off Westview. Then, Dyson popped a pair of threes to stretch the lead back to nine at 42-33 with 20 seconds left.
Covington led 44-40 on a Harvey layup with 2:32 to play in regulation, and Westview then clustered five fouls into 14 seconds to get the Tipton Countians in the bonus, a ploy that appeared to work when Harrelson converted a turnover into a layup followed by two free throws and a strong post-up move by Vincent that tied it at 46-all with five seconds to play.
Jones scored 13 points, Harvey had 12 and Dyson scored 11 for Covington. Vincent led all players with 24, Rechis added 11 and Leyhue scored 10 for Westview.

Published in The WCP 2.19.13

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