Lady Bears hang on
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 8, 2004
With time running out and Linden down by one, somehow the Linden defense managed to wrest the ball away from Keith with about 10 seconds to go.
Linden’s Shall Tate screamed down court and laid the ball up as she drew the foul.
The ball came out but Tate had two foul shots as a reward.
She missed both, but Linden’s leading scorer, Sekedia Sanders snagged the ball.
From point blank range she put the ball up.
It rattled in and out and back to Sanders who in a panic sent the ball back sailing harmlessly over the rim allowing Keith to hold on for a 53-52 win.
“I’m proud of the girls, they worked so hard,” coach Raymond Rucker said. “All that hard work paid off because they’re a lot stronger.
Even though they’re young a lot of teams don’t want to play us because we’re so physical, now.”
It was an exceptionally physical game and that worked to the Lady Bears advantage early on.
Keith built an 18-point lead and held it as late at the third quarter before Linden began their rally.
“I was glad they won a close one, so they can see we can win a close game,” Rucker said. “I think from now on, they will learn to execute and keep that lead.”
Eighth-grade phenom Angelica Dukes had 17 points to lead the Lady Bears.
Valinsa Jones added 11, including some key free throws down the stretch.
Latoria Gray had 12 points and 25 rebounds for Keith, drawing special praise from Rucker.
“I remember when she couldn’t even pick up a basketball,” he said.
With the win, Keith improves to 4-1 on the young season.
They play again Friday night against R.C. Hatch with varsity play starting at 5:30 p.m.
Julia Moore added five points and Salisha Parker, Tracy Rayford and Sabrina Williams had four each.
Brittany Johnson added two points for the home team.
For Linden, Sanders had 17 points and Tate added 13 in the losing effort.