ASHVILLE – If last Thursday’s 65-54 loss to Ashville is any indication, the youthful Cherokee County girls basketball team won’t drop many games this season as a result of a lack of late-game hustle.

Down by as many as 21 points in the first half, the Lady Warriors (3-2) used a 10-0 run to draw within 41-28 midway through the third quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs pulled ahead 48-32 after 24 minutes, but a 6-0 CCHS spurt to open the fourth quarter cut the Ashville lead to 50-38.

The Lady Warriors couldn’t cut their deficit to single digits, however, and although the CCHS outscored the Lady Bulldogs 16-15 over the final 5:35, the hosts had built enough of a lead to weather the rally.



“[Ashville] got out to a big lead in the first half, but the girls didn’t get down,” said CCHS head coach Travis Barnes. “I told the girls at halftime that if we boxed out and played good defense, we’d get back into the game, and we did. We had a few runs in the second half, but [Ashville] always came back with one of their own, and we couldn’t catch up. I hope that this gives us some momentum for [last Friday’s] game against White Plains.”

Anissa Anglin led the Lady Warriors with 19 points, while Kaitlyn Griffith added 12.

Tara Blanchard contributed eight points and 10 rebounds.

Anglin distributed five assists, while Griffith handed out three.

Anglin came up with four steals, followed by Griffith with three and Blanchard with two.

Destiny Lane paced Ashville with 19 points, while Ariel Carpenter chipped in 18.

The visitors dug a big hole early on, when Carpenter’s nine points helped Ashville build a 21-4 lead after one quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs continued to dominate in the second frame.

Six straight points from Lane made it a 29-8 advantage at 5:57, and the hosts entered halftime with a 37-18 lead.

Carpenter’s basket 13 seconds into the third period and Holley Brown‘s foul shot at 6:37 pushed the Ashville advantage to 23 points, but Griffith’s jump shot at 6:17 and Anglin’s lay-up at 4:12 bookended at 10-0 CCHS run that gave CCHS new life.

The Lady Bulldogs pretty much matched CCHS basket-for-basket the rest of the way, and the Lady Warriors eventually ran out of time.

ASHVILLE (65): Carpenter 19, Lane 18, Ambrosius 9, Cater 4, Looney 4, Brown 3, Williams 3, Fuller 2, Mattison 2, Leal 1.

CCHS (54): Anglin 19, Grifith 12, Blanchard 8, Highfield 6, Andrews 4, Rochester 3, Davis 2