Tale of two halves

After scoring only two points in the first quarter of last Tuesday night’s game against Ascension Christian, the ACHS Lady Bulldogs looked to be in for another route. However, the team proved why they are the Bulldogs and bit back – hard. The Lady Bulldogs came back to win the game 37-29 in a tale of two halves type game.

“We got off to a slow start. Our shots weren’t falling,” ACHS head coach Shawancy Joseph said about the two-point first quarter. “I really liked the shots we were taking, they just weren’t falling.”

The team picked up the pace in the second quarter and went into the locker rooms trailing 17-12 at the half. With 5:45 on the clock in the third quarter, Amber Carter gave ACHS the lead at 19-18 and from that point on the Lady Bulldogs turned the defensive pressure up and never looked back again. Joseph said the team was worried about foul trouble early on but she just wanted them to be aggressive and play man-to-man defense.

“I told my girls all they had to do was play with their feet,” Joseph said about the defensive pressure. “That’s what we have to work on, but I think we did a good job with it tonight. All in all, I think we did a good job with our press against them.”

The scoring pace picked up for the Lady Bulldogs when freshman Rae’Shaun Malancon was subbed into the game in the second quarter. From that point on the team was able to move the ball better.

“When we put Rae’Shaun (Malancon) in the game, she spreads the floor for us and the defenses have to watch out for her,” Joseph said. “That way we can move the ball, swing it, penetrate and that opens up a lot of things for our team.”

Malancon led the team with 11 points, and junior guard Jordynn Brown added 10 points in the winning effort. Brown struggled early, but was there in the end when the team needed her most.

“[Brown] really did pick it up for us. I just kept telling her to continue to fight through it,” Joseph said. “She was in foul trouble early and I told her to keep shooting, penetrating and getting stops on defenses. That way if we at least get stops we could get her to the free throw line and that would help her shot. That’s what she did and she did a good job of it.”