Lady Knights show moxie in opening loss Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 11 2009 05:53 AM By Alex Byington
Killeen Daily Herald

HARKER HEIGHTS – Harker Heights coach Shirretha Nelson is looking for one thing after a 7-26 record last season – improvement.

Nelson got that and a little encouragement in a 58-53 loss to Pflugerville on Tuesday night in the season-opener at Knights Gym. These were the same Lady Panthers that blasted Heights 65-19 in the season-opener a year ago before advancing to the Class 5A state semifinals.

"It's the improvement, but I can also see the experience," said Nelson, who is beginning her second season leading a particularly young Lady Knights squad. "This year I can see the adjustments and progressions of playing a full year of varsity basketball. But a lot of that is just playing together."

Depending heavily on the sophomore combination of Brianna Golden, who started last season as a freshman, and Shanice Davis, the Lady Knights (0-1) only saw half of their dynamic duo get going.

Golden, the lone freshman to crack the All-District 12-5A team a year ago, was held scoreless on an 0-for-6 night, including 0-for-1 from the free-throw line.

"She struggled offensively a lot," said Nelson of the talented 5-foot-10 combo-guard. "That was kind of tough, but I think it was important for her to be on the floor at times ... that's going to come with time."

The scoring fell completely on Davis, who responded by leading all scorers with 25 points, all of which came in the final three quarters. The 5-foot-6 guard continually drove the lanes and forced Pflugerville into fouls, which she turned into points, finishing 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.

"We've been working hard on free throws and I'm very proud of her because she did exactly what we talked about in the locker room about the free-throw line, making everything count," Nelson said.

Helping Davis carry the load were Brianna Freeman (9 points), Tevin Broussard (8) and junior Bianca Patterson (7).

Missing talented junior Nneka Enemkpali, who is out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Pflugerville (1-0) spread the ball around with three players in double figures including center Dymeshean Hyder (13 points), Christie Mooney (12) and Adesuwa Ebomwonyi (10). Hyder also added seven rebounds while Itiana Taylor led the team with 10 boards.

Unable to hit much in the first quarter, Heights fell further behind midway through the second quarter. Trailing just 16-15 after the first two minutes of the period, the Lady Panthers pulled ahead 26-17 thanks to five consecutive points off strong inside play of Hyder.

But the Lady Knights would cut the lead to 33-25 at the half thanks to six straight points by Davis, while Booth added five points for Pflugerville.

Heights slowly tried to mount a comeback in the second half, led heavily by Davis, who scored 17 of her 25 in the second half. Trading bucket for bucket in the third, the Lady Knights exploded out of the gate in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Panthers 5-2 to pull within 4 points (51-47) midway through the quarter.

But neither team was able to capitalize off a multitude of turnovers in the final 3 minutes as Pflugerville held on for the victory.

Contact Alex Byington at alexb@kdhnews.com or at (254) 501-7566.