Red Tornadoes' defensive intensity nets Classic title

The numbers couldn’t have been any sourer, but the end result couldn’t have been any sweeter for the Hickory High girls.

Despite making just seven of 38 shots – including one of 14 in the second half -- the top-seeded Red Tornadoes claimed their 13^th Catawba Valley Classic basketball title on Thursday night with a 35-27 victory over third-seeded Newton-Conover.

Hickory (12-1) ratcheted up its defensive intensity at exactly the right time and made just enough free throws to win at Catawba Valley Community College.

When asked if she had ever had a team win despite hitting just one second-half field goal, Hickory head coach Barbara Helms was quick with her response.

“Probably not,” said Helms, whose team finished 18.4 percent from the field. “But a win’s a win as far as I’m concerned.

“(The poor shooting) didn’t bother me because we did what we needed to defensively.”

Which was give the Red Devils a new look, throwing a zone at them that proved to be a riddle they couldn’t solve as they tried for back-to-back Classic titles.

Hickory’s Aja Hoyle scored a game-high 14 points on her way to earning tournament Most Valuable Player. And while the Red Tornadoes threw out some ugly numbers, the Red Devils (9-3) didn’t fare much better.

Forward Laneica Williams, who had 38 points over the previous two nights, went scoreless as Newton-Conover shot 10-of-36 (27.8 percent).

Two other numbers, though, proved to be Newton-Conover’s undoing –the number of turnovers by the Red Devils (32) and the number of free throws the Red Tornadoes made (19).

Hickory converted the giveaways into 26 points and came up with crucial steals late when a Newton-Conover surge trimmed a 12-point deficit to 27-25 on a Shynese Whitener foul shot with four minutes, 18 seconds left.

But two steals on the Red Devils’ next two possessions were converted into two Yazmin Hannah free throws and a transition layup, giving Hickory a six-point cushion.

“That’s been our Achilles heel all year,” said Newton-Conover head coach Ike Williams of the costly miscues. “Those last two turnovers really hurt.

“We were in position to tie or take the lead, and we didn’t settle down and we tried to force the pass.”

Also hurting the Red Devils was foul trouble, with the inside line of Kadesha Gibbs and Dasia Tipps picking up three fouls before halftime. Whitener followed with her third foul just over midway through the third quarter.

“That affected us a lot,” said Williams, “Any time you have only (nine) players, you can’t afford to get into any trouble.

“But we weren’t hitting shots, and we weren’t hitting the middle. Tonight we just didn’t execute.”

With the teams playing for the third time in 24 days, this one had the makings of an ugly one from the start.

Gibbs’ layup five seconds in gave the Red Devils the opening score, but they went another 11:10 before adding another field goal on a Whitener drive down the lane.

Hickory led 9-3 after the first quarter and 21-10 at the half, but then it was the Red Tornadoes’ turn to go cold from the floor.

Hickory managed just two points in the third quarter on free throws from Hannah (nine  points) and Hoyle, but the Red Tornadoes’ lone post-halftime bucket could not have come at a more important time.

After Hannah stole a Taylor Petty pass and connected on two free throws for a 29-25 lead, Andrea Miller corralled a Red Devils pass in the lane and pushed the ball ahead to Hannah, whose layup made it 31-25.

A sizable advantage in free throws then effectively sealed the game. Hickory tried 25 compared to Newton-Conover’s 10. The Red Tornadoes hit 10-of-11 free throws in the final quarter.

Joining Hoyle on the all-tournament team were Hannah and Danasia Witherspoon of Hickory, while the Red Devils’ Gibbs and Williams also were named to the squad.