On Tuesday night, the North Decatur Lady Chargers welcomed the state-ranked #9 Eastern Hancock Lady Royals to Cook Court and North Decatur High School. Coming into the contest, Eastern Hancock had been outscoring their opponents from 57.9 to 28.9 on average. Their record of 9-2 was put on the line in a hard-fought game that saw runs made by each team. In the end, it took a heave at the end to sink the Royals (now 9-3) 49-48.
The Chargers came out of the gate in a hurry; outpacing Eastern Hancock 16-10 in the first quarter. It came from a balanced attack from multiple players. Kunz had 6 in the period, 4 from the field and 2 at the line. Senior, Madelyn Bohman collected 5 points with a layup basket and a three-pointer. Madi Allen attacked the basket knocking in a deuce while Kelsey Haley drained a three-pointer.
But a well-coached, Shari Doud Royals team would not go away. North Decatur was forced into poor, quick decisions by the Royal defensive attack. Royal sharp shooter Grace Stapleton was spectacular on the night with 18 points; she stepped on the floor and was in her shooting range. Eastern Hancock went into the half on a 13-0 run after being down 20-10.
The third quarter was a tough, grind-it-out period that saw Sophomore Clare Kinker knock down a big triple on her way to 5 points for the contest. Sydney Rohls hit two clutch free throws as she played valuable minutes off the bench. North Decatur outscored Eastern Hancock by one point in the 3rd to cut the lead to 2 points, 35-33 EH by 2.
The teams would exchange runs in the 4th quarter. North Decatur brought pressure which caused several Royal turnovers and generated multiple free throw attempts on the other end for the Lady Chargers. Solid free throw shooting down the stretch kept the game close.
With the team trailing by 2, 46-48 the Chargers fouled to put Eastern Hancock at the line. After missing the front end of the one and bonus, the Chargers grabbed the rebound. The ball ended up out of bounds after a tipped deflection by an Eastern Hancock defender. After the Charger timeout, there was 15 seconds to play in the game. A dribble drive, draw and kick sequence attacked the middle of the floor and the ball was dished out to the corner for sophomore Kelsey Haley. She dribbled left and pulled up from the deep corner to connect on the contested shot attempt as time expired to upset the Lady Royals by the final score of 49-48. A shot Lady Charger fans, won’t soon forget.
The win improves the Lady Chargers to 8-4; their 5th straight win. Eastern Hancock drops to 9-3 on the campaign.
North Decatur is back in action at home next Tuesday against Jac-Cen-Del. JV tip off is set for 6 PM.
Scoring Tonight:
Haley 13 points, 2/3 FT
Kunz 12 points, 2/4 FT
Allen 9 points, 3/4 FT
Bohman 8 points, 1/2 FT
Kinker 5 points
Rohls 2 points, 2/2 FT
Team FT: 10/15 ND, 4/11 EH
Submitted by the school’s athletic department.