Lady Dawgs hoops back in win column
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
After a rough start to the District 12-6A schedule, the Lady Dawgs basketball team notched their second district win with a 57-52 win over the Bryan Lady Vikings to move to 2-4 in district play Tuesday night at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
After falling behind 17-14 early in the second quarter, the Lady Dawgs began to create some separation with a huge performance off the bench by varsity newcomer junior Vivian Carr, along with senior Samaria Bostick and junior T’Shayla Marrie. Cove outscored Bryan 16-3 to close the half up 30-20 after trailing by three early in the period.
The Lady Dawgs then fought off another Bryan rally late in the second half, spearheaded by the play of freshman Chloe Tuiasosopo on both ends. After getting a pair of blocks on the defensive end, Tuiasosopo made consecutive layups to push Cove’s lead back to 10, 55-45, with 1:24 left in the contest. The two baskets halted a 10-0 Lady Vikings run, led by sophomore Taler Thornton with five of her game-high 27 points in the run.
“She is hungry,” Copperas Cove girls’ head basketball coach Tiffney Barnes said about her freshman Tuiasosopo. “She’s a freshman, but she’s not a shy freshman. She wants to be on the floor and she’s working hard every day. She came up to me and said ‘give me a chance. Let me guard (Thornton).’”
Thornton, freshman Christionna Ellis and sophomore Ka’Ianndrea Gooden then rallied the Lady Vikings back within a possession once again with a pair of free throws, a three-pointer and a wild basket, respectively, to make it a 55-52 contest with the final seconds winding down.
Two clutch free throws by Marrie iced the game for the Lady Dawgs for the 57-52 victory.
“We made some crucial mistakes at the end of the game,” said Barnes. “We can’t make those mistakes anymore.”
The Lady Dawgs had 10 different players score in the contest with junior Elianah Eady-Smith leading the way with 10 points and six rebounds. Marrie added nine points and two rebounds and sophomore Taylor Wilson had eight points and 10 rebounds, followed by senior Jordan McGhee (7 pts, 4 rebs), senior Danielle McGriff (5 pts, 2 rebs), senior Samaria Bostick (5 pts, 2 rebs), Tuiasosopo (4 pts, 3 rebs), sophomore Shakaira Zeigler (4 pts, 3 rebs), Carr (3 pts), and senior Yvonna Drayton (2 pts, reb).
Thornton had 27 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lady Vikings. Ellis added 12 points and a rebound, followed by Gooden (6 pts, 7 rebs), Paulhill (4 pts), sophomore Ja’nasja Gafford (2 pts, 3 rebs) and freshman Madison Wells 1 pt).
It was back and forth for the first eight minutes of play with both teams forcing and giving away many turnovers. A basket and a free throw by Wilson and putback by Eady-Smith put the Lady Dawgs up 5-2 to begin the game after a basket by Ellis gave Bryan the first points of the contest.
Free throws and a basket by Thornton helped the Lady Vikings retake the lead 8-6 before a steal for a layup by senior Jordan McGhee knotted the game at 8-all.
A basket and free throw by Thornton and a basket by Eady-Smith made it an 11-10 Bryan lead before consecutive baskets by McGhee closed the quarter with Cove leading 14-11.
A three-pointer, a basket, and a free throw by Thornton flipped the lead back to Bryan, 17-14 to open the second quarter.
Cove then began to pull away with a 9-2 run. Led by consecutive baskets by Bostick. Baskets by Marrie and Drayton and a free throw by Carr added to the run.
Free throws by both teams pushed the score to 28-20 before a basket by Carr gave the Lady a 10-point lead, 30-20, at the halftime break.
Thornton scored 15 of the Lady Vikings’ 20 points in the half.
Baskets by Marrie, Zeigler and free throws by senior Danielle McGriff helped the Lady increase their lead to 11, 37-26, before a baskets by Thornton, Ellis, and sophomore Vivica Paulhill helped bring Bryan back within six, 41-34, at the end of three quarters.
Baskets by Bryan’s Gooden and Thornton and Cove’s Marrie and Eady-Smith pushed the score to 45-38.
Bryan began to narrow the gap with a basket by Gooden, a traditional three-point play and 2 for 3 free throws by Thornton that made it a 50-45 game with 3:10 remaining. Cove had their chances at the free throw line during that run, but only were able to convert 4 for 8 attempts.
Tuiasosopo then hit the two huge back-to-back layups that extended Cove’s lead back to 10, 55-45 with 1:24 left.
The Lady Dawgs (14-14 overall, 2-4 in District 12-6A) travel to Shoemaker to face the Lady Wolves (2-4) coming off their 49-48 win over Temple.
Lady Dawgs Soccer sweeps College Station Classic Women’s Soccer Tournament
The Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs soccer team competed in the College Station Classic Women’s Soccer Tournament over the weekend where the shutout all three opponents on the weekend.
They opened the tournament with an 8-0 win over Westbury on Thursday before taking down Dickinson in a 3-0 contest on Friday.
The Lady Dawgs concluded tournament action with a 2-0 shutout of Azle.
Four different Lady Dawgs score in the tournament with Emily Poste leading the way with six. Emma Ross and Brianna Miles each had three while Ailene Rodarte had one.
Seven different Lady Dawgs registered assists with Ross leading with four. Poste and Lili Perez added two each while Ella Crawley, Alexis Smith, Aly Moreno, Miles and Trinity Garcia each had one.
Allison Crawley was credited with all three shutouts in goal.