Lady Trojans cruise past Humboldt, 78-48

Monday night the DHS Lady Trojans started the first of two Christmas tournaments they will be competing in, playing Humboldt in the Crockett County Christmas Classic. The Lady Trojans had another night of good play on both offense and defense, as they cruised to an impressive 30-point victory, 78-48.

The Lady Trojans' Lacelia Newman set the tone on defense early, with two steals in the opening minutes of the game. Two free throws from senior Tara Butler, and a turn- around jumper from teammate Kayla Holloway put DHS out in front, 4-0. The Lady Vikings' talented senior, and MTSU signee Ashley Hayes got Humboldt on the board with a 15-foot jumper, but Latroya Mitchell answered for the Lady Trojans down low. The Lady Trojans play of the half came when Newman stole the ball, found Butler at half court, who then passed the ball to a wide-open Newman for the basket. The Lady Trojans were getting a dose of the Lady Vikings' Hayes in the first, as the senior scored four of Humboldt's nine points in the quarter. To end the quarter, Natalie Pike scored, and Mary Beth Ozment drained a 3-pointer to put DHS ahead 17-9 after one.

The second started with Butler smothering the Lady Vikings on defense, causing a five-second call to start the period. The senior also hit a 3-pointer early in the quarter, forcing the Lady Vikings bench to call for a timeout. The Lady Trojans had found their rhythm, going on a 9-0 run to start the quarter. After a basket from Humboldt's Hayes cut the DHS lead to 30-13, junior Shaunda Strayhorn scored two of her six second-quarter points with a 10-foot jumper. The Lady Trojan defense had the Lady Vikings confused and frustrated, and it showed with multiple turnovers. The Lady Trojans went to a stall with 1:40 remaining in the half, trying to pull the Lady Vikings out of their zone defense. Humboldt looked content to go into halftime just being down 16, and as the clock ran out, a missed Lady Trojan shot would leave the score 32-16 after one half of play.

Coach Randy Coffman was pleased with the first-half performance, saying, "In the first half we did some good stuff, we were able to end each quarter on offense, so we got to dictate the pace of play. I thought that was really big in the first half."

In the third, MTSU signee Jessica Graves tried to get the Lady Vikings back in the game. The senior hit a little jumper early, but the Lady Trojans' Tara Butler answered the shot. "La Tara" drilled a long 3-pointer from right in front of the bleachers to put DHS in control, 35-18. Graves then sank a 3-pointer for Humboldt, followed by teammate Hayes, who sank another three, and all of sudden it looked like a ballgame, 37-24. After Newman hit two free throws for DHS, Holloway had a big swat on defense. The Lady Vikings cut the lead to 12 at 44-32, but Pike found Strayhorn for a basket, and Holloway went to work, scoring six straight points, and after three quarters the Lady Trojans were well ahead, 53-34.

The fourth started with Pike scoring in the paint off a pass from Holloway, and the frustration had reached the boiling point for the Humboldt bench. A technical foul was called, and sophomore Sarah Coleman sank the two free throws to put the Trojans ahead 60-36. The Lady Trojans had very balanced scoring in the fourth; playing team basketball has its advantages, as the Lady Trojans simply proved to be too much for Humboldt. After the contest Coffman summed up his team's performance. "I thought we were real, real aggressive tonight. In the second half, we came out flat against Dyer County; they remembered it, and we reminded our kids about it. We really came out attacking in the third quarter, setting the tone for the second half. Tonight we took care of the basketball -- only had 12 turnovers to there 21."

The Lady Trojans face Peabody today at 2 p.m. Coffman looks forward to the challenge. "It's going to be a war. The kids know each other real well; they all have relationships with each other outside of basketball. It should be a good game, both teams really get hyped up for each other."

DHS (78) Latroya Mitchell 11, Lacelia Newman 12, Kayla Holloway 16, Kayla Bartlett, Shaunda Strayhorn 13, Tara Butler 8, Natalie Pike 5, Murray 1, Ozment 3, Coleman 2, Yancy 2, Moore, Petty 2, Fox, McLin 3

HHS (48) Jessica Graves 18, Ashley Hayes 22, Johnson 2, Goff, Pierce 6, Shelton, Isabell, Vanders

DHS 17 15 21 25=78

HHS 9 7 18 14= 48