The Lady Trojans of Charles Henderson High improved their perfect overall record to 7-0 Thursday evening with a 54-35 win over Class 6A Dothan High in Betty Wagner Gymnasium.

This marked another game for the Lady Trojans without Maori Davenport, who is awaiting the ruling of an appeal after she was ruled ineligible by the AHSAA earlier this week.

Despite the absence of the dominating center, the Lady Trojans were as aggressive and tenacious as ever on offense and defense, with four of five starters ending the night in double figures.

“Dothan came out hungry, but we just had to make adjustments on defense,” said CHHS Lady Trojans Head Basketball Coach Dyneshia Jones. “For every offense we face, we have to make the necessary adjustments on defense.

“We are still taking it one day at a time, and even without Maori it is still five-on-five out there. Our girls are going to keep pushing. It’s hard on our girls with the situation with Maori, but they understand regardless they have got to keep fighting. We are pushing for her.”

Improving to 7-0 on the year, the Lady Trojans led 27-14 at the half, and 44-20 after three periods before pulling away to the 54-35 win.

Samira Moore led CHHS with 13 points, Mykyla Milton had 12, while Tatyana Siler and Makala Hobdy had 10 points each. Niaira Jones added six points while Tanner Moore scored three points on the evening.

It was announced Tuesday that Davenport had been ruled ineligible by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

One of the nation’s top 15 players and a Rutgers signee, Davenport received a check by USA basketball for her participation on the U18 team this summer in the FIBA Americas U18 Tournament in Mexico City. 

“The Alabama High School Athletic Association has deemed her ineligible,” Charles Henderson High School Principal Brock Kelley said earlier this week. “Right now we are in the preliminary stage of the appeals process. We feel like we have a good case to appeal.”

Even in the absence of the center, Coach Jones is proud of the way her girls push forward.

“We are doing a great job,” said Jones. “Maori is right there with us, the attitudes are right and we are keeping our hopes up high. We just hope that she will be joining us soon.”

The Trojans travel to play Andalusia on Friday night.