The Lady ‘Landers withstood a barrage of 3-pointers for three quarters. Unfortunately, the Lady Bucs fired shots across the bow in the final quarter.
Cloudland was unable to hold off a late University High rally in a 49-46 loss in the District 1-A consolation game on Monday night.
The Lady ‘Landers will open the Region 1-A tournament on the road on Friday night against Cosby or Northview Academy.
Cloudland jumped out to an early lead as Shian Strickland drained a 3-pointer and Lisa Ellis kicked off an 8-0 run as Payton Johnson and Strickland added points. After a Lexi Cruthers bucket, the Lady ‘Landers held an 11-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Megan Lunsford opened the second with a trey, and Johnson pushed the lead to 10-points. UH, however, trimmed the lead back to single digits to pull within two points before a Johnson buck gave CHS a 25-21 lead at the half.
After the teams traded points to open the second quarter, Ellis and Johnson hit back-to-back buckets that sparked a 9-0 run. The Lady ‘Landers, who held UH scoreless for the final 4:33 of the quarter, to take a 35-25 advantage to the final quarter.
The Lady Bucs found their groove in the fourth.
A quick 4-0 UH run opened the quarter before Strickland answered on the other end for Cloudland. The Lady Bucs, however held CHS scoreless over the next five minutes while scoring 13 of the game’s next 15 points – with Cloudland’s Johnson adding the lone CHS points. In the final minute, Elsie Howard countered a Johnson bucket with four free throws. Strickland cut the CHS deficit to two points in the closing seconds, but Cloudland was unable to get a half court shot off before time expired.
Johnson tallied 17 points in the game. Strickland scored 14 points, while Ellis added eight points.
For UH, Cruthers had a game-high 20 points. Howard tossed in 17 points.
Postgame Audio
Cloudland Head Coach Lucas Andrews
Photo Gallery
To view more photos, click here.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”227″ gal_title=”022216_CHS_D1UH”]