Thomasville girls hold off West rally

Fri. February 03, 2012 at 11:00 p.m. | By Mike Duprez

Thomasville’s Joshana Thomas dribbles as West Davidson’s Nicole Michael defends during their game Friday night in Tyro. Looking on is the Dragons’ Callie Herman. (Photo by Mike Duprez/The Dispatch)

Thomasville’s girls were in the process of running West Davidson out of the gym but then had to hold on for a 54-47 win after most of a 22-point second half lead evaporated.

In the end, the Bulldogs (14-4 overall, 6-2 CCC) survived a meltdown at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were just 2-for-14 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes.

“We gave them opportunities to get back in,” said Thomasville coach Brandon Staton. “Overall, it was a good effort. We’ve just got to get better and get ready for next week.”

And maybe practice free throw shooting.

“That’s not going to get it against a real good team,” Staton said.

Joshana Thomas led the Bulldogs with 21 points while Alexis Lambert and Joslyn Spires had 10 each.

Callie Herman led West with a game-high 23 points. Emily Hutchinson came off the bench to score 11 points — all in the fourth quarter.

Thomasville led 46-24 late in the third quarter and the prospect of a West victory seemed remote. But with Herman and Hutchinson leading the way, the Dragons roared back. They scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and kept pushing. Herman’s floater made it a 51-45 game with 1:21 left and the Bulldogs continued to miss free throws.

The Dragons had a chance to get even closer but Thomas stole the ball from Herman and drove in for a layup, giving Thomasville a 53-45 lead with 50 seconds left.

In the end, West (4-14 overall, 0-8 CCC) ran out of time.

“I was proud of the effort to fight back,” said West coach David Klinkoski. “The group I had in there was doing a good job. I might have left them in there a little longer than I should have. They might have needed a break but they were doing such a good job I wanted to leave them on the floor and see what they could do.”

West travels to East Davidson on Tuesday while Thomasville hosts Salisbury.

Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.