Lady Hornets sting rivals with defense
Aiken High School girls' basketball coach Aubrey Pompey is looking for balance with this year's team with the absence of some of the top scorers from last season's tournament run. Friday night against rival South Aiken High School, that's exactly what he found.
Eleven different Lady Hornets found their way into the scoring column, as Aiken converted aggressive defense into easy buckets at the other end to rout the Lady Thoroughbreds 74-29.
"There's not much difference from 1 to 14," said Pompey of his lineup. "On any given night, they can all step up. We have a couple of young girls that will come up big for us as the year goes on."
Despite two lopsided losses to Aiken last season, South Aiken didn't look intimidated at the opening tip. The Lady T-Breds attacked the basket with their guards, keeping it close throughout most of the first quarter as Aiken struggled to knock down shots in its halfcourt sets.
"I thought maybe we were a little tight since this was a rivalry," said Pompey. "I expected us to be loose since we played three games, but we weren't."
With the outside shots not falling, Aiken turned up its defensive intensity, which eventually sparked its offense. Getting in the passing lanes and forcing South Aiken into turnover after turnover, the visitors began finding easy shots in transition at the other end. A 20-5 run gave Aiken a 34-17 lead at the halftime break, and the Lady T-Breds' faith began to waiver.
Determined to get the ball to its scorers inside, Aiken found 12 points from Deidre Price before the half.
Aiken didn't let up one bit out of the locker room, despite putting some different players on the floor. Kashonda Henderson, who finished the game with a team-high 13 points, began to heat up, scoring seven in the third frame. The South Aiken turnovers continued to mount, and a three-point showing from the Lady T-Breds in the quarter put the game on ice with Aiken leading 62-20.
"(Defense) was the area that we talked about at halftime," said Pompey. "Their guards were beating us off the dribble, and we weren't staying in front of them to get turnovers. In the second half, we came out and got in the passing lanes. That enabled us to get going."
South Aiken's Courtney Williams scored four of her team-best 10 points in the fourth quarter, but it made little difference as Kinsley Hall and Natasha Dicks turned up the heat for Aiken. A flustered South Aiken squad that was whistled for three 5-second violations never was able to find an answer for the Lady Hornets' full-court pressure.
"Coming into the season, that was something that we wanted to do because of the depth we have at guard," said Pompey of the relentless attack, which he did call off down the stretch. "We can put pressure from the beginning of the game to the end of the game without losing much on offense."
Aiken will host Strom Thurmond on Wednesday before taking another crack at South Aiken next Friday, this one in the Hornets' nest. Lexington will visit Aiken on Dec. 15 to begin the region schedule.
"In the region that we play in, we are nowhere near where we need to be in order to compete every nigh," said Pompey. "We have to get better defensively, and we have to make some outside shots on offense. It's a slow process, but we feel like we are improving."
AIK 14 20 21 19 - 74
SA 7 10 3 9 - 29
Aiken (1-2) Erin Gilmore 2 1-2 5, Ashley Winfield 4 3-4 12, Justina Tyler 0 3-4 3, Krystal Jessie 1 0-0 2, Hanna Williams 3 0-1 6, Jasmine Settles 1 0-0 2, Kinsley Hall 3 1-2 7, Kashonda Henderson 5 2-2 13, Natasha Dicks 4 0-0 8, Amber Johnson 2 0-0 4, Deidre Price 6 0-0 12. Totals 31 10-15 74.
South Aiken (0-2) Courtney Williams 5 0-0 10, MaKenzie Smith 2 0-0 4, Quaneshia Matthews 1 0-0 2, Kyasia Youmans 2 0-0 4, Hillary Rich 1 0-0 2, Quashanna Thomas 0 0-1 0, Tracy Parker 2 0-0 4, Kym Coley 0 1-2 1, Khadijah Patterson 0 2-4 2. Totals 13 3-7 29.