The third ranked Charles Henderson Lady Trojans defeated the eighth ranked Eufaula Tigers on Saturday afternoon to secure their third straight Northview Christmas Tournament championship.

It was a close game, but in the end the Trojans were able to hold back the Tigers and pick up a 50-38 win.

“It was a good challenge against Eufaula, who is also a ranked team in 5A,” said Trojans coach Dyneshia Jones. “It was a great challenge to both of us and it also helped us both. We were able to figure out what else it was that we needed to work on.”

The Trojans held a comfortable lead throughout the first half and entered the locker room at halftime holding a nine-point lead. The Tigers were able to cut the Trojans lead down to six points in the third quarter before the Trojans were able to put the game away.

Tatyana Siler led the Trojans with 19 points on the night.

In all, the Trojans played three games in the tournament finishing the tournament with a 3-0 record. Coach Jones found out how well her team could adjust to each opponent they went up against.

“Each of the three games were different,” Jones said. “The first two games they didn’t have the tall post players. We had to adjust to everything. We couldn’t drive the lane much against Eufaula, but the shots were there.”

The Trojans currently sit a 9-0 and are ranked third in the state and they hope to continue to play with confidence.

“That was very important for us,” Jones said. “I continue to have confidence in my players. We just have to limit the turnovers and do the fundamentals we won’t have a problem.”

The Trojans now prepare for the Hoover Big Orange Tournament and to be successful they just have to play their brand of basketball according to coach Jones.

“We have to remain content,” Jones said. “It’s always going to be five on five. We need to always play hard like you are 10 points per game.”

The tournament will feature teams from north Alabama and it will give the Trojans the ability to measure their talent against unknown opponents.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Jones said. “The teams that are there we don’t know too much about. We need to play Charles Henderson basketball, but playing teams from the north will help us.”

The Trojans will face Oak Mountain in round one and begin play at 4 p.m. this afternoon.