The Charles Henderson Trojans used a big second half to pull away from the D.A. Smith Eagles in a 34-24 victory.

Things started off slow for both teams. Charles Henderson had trouble moving the ball against the Eagles’ full-court press and turned the ball over numerous times in the first half. The Trojans were able to overcome their offensive inefficiency with a strong man-to-man defense that held the Eagles to only nine points in the first half.

The two teams were tied at nine heading in to the half.

The Trojan offense picked up in the second half. The Trojans used a 9-3 run to pull away from the Eagles and take an 18-12 lead in to the fourth quarter.

A quick three by Cobi Jones put the Trojans ahead 21-12, and Charles Henderson never looked back. D.A. Smith could not get anything going on offense, and the Trojans sank five free throws in the last two minutes to seal their victory.

Jaquentin Daniels led the Trojans with 11 points.

After the game, head coach Shelby Tuck said making adjustments at halftime led to the victory. “In the second half, we started to get some easy transition baskets,” Tuck said. “We improved our defensive rebounding. Our first half was just ugly. We had so many turnovers. But, the boys toughed it out and were able to pull it out in the end.”

Tuck said the team is looking forward to practicing over the holiday break. “It’s going to be a great joy to work with the kids over the break,” Tuck said. “This is the first year we’ve had games in January. We have two weeks to really work on our rebounding and shooting.”

In girls’ action, the Charles Henderson Lady Trojans overcame a five-point fourth quarter deficit to beat D.A. Smith 34-30.

The Lady Trojans and Eagles battled back-and-forth all night with Troy jumping out to a 9-4 lead in the first quarter. The Eagles came roaring back with 11 unanswered points to take a 15-9 lead in the second quarter. The Eagles’ lead had fallen to two by the break with the Trojans trailing 15-17.

Both teams picked up the pace in the third quarter, but neither team was able to take a commanding lead. D.A. Smith led 30-25 heading in to the final quarter.

The Lady Trojans used physical offense and defense to take control of the game and score the game’s final nine points. Seven of the Lady Trojans’ nine points came from the free throw line as Charles Henderson rallied for a 34-30 win.

Maori Davenport led the way for the Lady Trojans with 17 points.

Head coach Tara Davenport said she was proud of how her team rallied. “Going in to the fourth quarter, I told the girls to calm down,” Davenport said. “We shifted Maori to point guard. That left some of the other girls open, and they stepped up. This was a little revenge win because D.A. Smith beat us in Ozark.”

When her coach moved her to point guard, Maori said she was nervous. “I was scared at first,” Maori said. “After we started scoring, I felt better though. We’ve just been practicing and working as hard as we can all year.”