Central girls fall in rematch with PE

Published 3:25 pm Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Central High School varsity girls basketball team returned from the brief snow-induced hiatus for a rematch against Prince Edward County High School on Friday, but the Lady Chargers could not reproduce the favorable result they achieved on the road earlier this season.

After defeating the Lady Eagles 50-49 on Dec. 2, Central lost 63-52 at home last week.

“Going in, with the first game being the nail-biter it was, this game was going to be the same way,” Lady Chargers Head Coach Scott Wilson said. “And it was.”

Until the fourth quarter, that is.

“I give props to (Da’Mya) Harris from Prince Edward,” Wilson said. “That fourth quarter, she took over the game.”

Harris, a sophomore guard, scored nearly half of her 30 points in the final period of play, including hitting three 3-pointers.

“We knew Harris is the No. 1 player of their team, and she’s an outstanding player, and we knew we had to keep her in check,” Wilson said. “And the first time we played her, we held her to 13 points in that game.”

Harris’ effort helped the Lady Eagles overcome a strong offensive performance by Central.

“We scored 52 points, and for us, that’s the second-highest total for the season, and if we score 52 points, nine out of 10 times we’re going to win the game,” Wilson said. “Like I told the girls yesterday, I was pleased, offensively.”

Senior center/forward Bri’Anna Johnson, who grabbed 18 rebounds, and senior guard Brittany Dolan led the Lady Chargers with 12 points apiece. Dolan’s points came on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

“We worked the ball around, and that’s when we make our outside shots, so I was very pleased by Dolan’s performance on Friday night,” Wilson said.

Central senior forward/guard Dominique Turman-Watson contributed 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

“She’s been averaging basically a double-double every game for the season,” Wilson said. “She’s definitely a player on both sides of the ball you can depend on. I can pretty much play her the whole game, and her play has definitely been a tremendous asset to this season.”

The Lady Chargers (5-3) visited Buckingham County High School on Tuesday, and they host the talented Lady Cougars of Nottoway High School on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“They’re currently undefeated in the district,” Wilson said. “And then we play our conference foe on Saturday, Cumberland (High School), and so we have, really, a big week. And then next week we turn around and play Monday and Tuesday. So, we’ve got five games in eight nights, and so we’ve just got to be ready every night to play and learn from each game going forward. Right now, we’re in a battle for the top three seeds in our conference between Cumberland and Mathews (High School).”