Girls Basketball: Henry Wise 54, C.H. Flowers 48

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By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager

Youthfulness was served in the C.H. Flowers' gymnasium Thursday night as the Lady Jaguars welcomed in the Henry Wise Lady Pumas.

True in fact that coaches more often than not look towards the upperclassmen to get the team on track and focused during tightly-contested games, and so was the case on Thursday as Wise defeated Flowers 54-48 to remain undefeated on the season.

But not before the Lady Pumas were led by two freshmen throughout the first three quarters as Eliqua Brooks and Jordan Swails paced the Pumas early and often, so much so, that Wise head coach Walter Clark took notice.

"I was really pleased with those freshmen out there," Clark said."Those freshmen really put in a [great] effort. I don't think we would have won without them. They gave us something extra tonight."

Swails and Brooks led all scorers on the night with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

And as the freshmen did their respective parts early in the game, the upperclassmen took care of the waning moments in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Pumas led by eight points going into the half, 28-20, but Flowers came out and eventually clawed its way back to a 37-37 tie, and moments late took a 39-37 lead, and at that very moment the Wise upperclassmen begin playing their part.

Junior Briana Gibson gave Wise the lead 42-41 with a free throw early in the fourth quarter. And as the two teams traded baskets and free throws, junior Leslie Slayton hit a crucial three-point basket and then followed it up seconds later with a lay-up basket giving Wise the 54-46 lead and in essence put the game away.

"One thing we knew was that [Flowers] was not going to quit," Clark said. "They got us on our heels there, but I thought the kids played hard and played through it."

"In the second half [Flowers] got back into it, got a little motivation," said Morgan Pope-Addison of Wise. "We pulled it out in the end with a ... [Slayton] three pointer and then Jordan got the steal and Leslie made the lay-up and we pulled it off."

Flowers (2-1) came out of the gates fast as it opened a 9-0 lead to start the game. However, Wise answered with a 16-0 run to take a 16-9 lead.

Despite losing the nine-point lead the Lady Jaguars were able to take a brief lead in the third quarter and managed to tie the game early in the fourth, but to no avail.

"It was a good competitive game and that is really what the 4A is all about this year," Flowers head coach Patricia Frazier said. "The bottom line was for us was just finishing. ... It's a one-point game with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in the game, we have to finish."

"We are 4-0 and we have Roosevelt coming," Clark said. "Enough said. "We just have to keep working, keep playing hard, and keep believing in ourselves."

tmccray@digitalsports.com


Henry A. Wise 54, C.H. Flowers 48
Wise     --    15   13   11   15
Flowers --     9    9     22   8

Individual scoring:
Wise: Swails 13, Brooks 12, Slayton 9, Smith 6, Pope-Addison 5, Gibson 3, Waters 3, Borum 3

Flowers: Ekanam 11, Gorham 10, D. Tucker 9, Brown 8, Blackburn 7, Yelder 3


Three-point goals:
Wise (Brooks, Slayton)

Flowers: (Tucker, Yelder)