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 Friday night became a nightmare evening for the visiting No. 1 Northern Neck seeded Lady Red Devils of Lancaster. In the midst of missing their leading scorer, Andrea White, their offense fell prey to a suffocating Colonial Beach defense, which limited their ability to score in transition.
In a low scoring game, in a sparsely populated gymnasium, the third-seeded Lady Drifters upset the Red Devils, 29-24. With the victory the Drifters could overtake second place Northumberland before the end of the regular season. Results of the Northumberland game (4-1, 10-4) were not available due to press deadlines.
The Drifters have proven they have the right stuff. With the majority of their losses coming in the final minutes, the Drifters continue to show poise in the face of adversity. Most recently, the Drifters have developed a new weapon in their arsenal of offense, with center Melissa Turner shooting from the perimeter, rather than the low post zone. Turner scored 6 points and dominated the defensive boards.
Collectively, the entire team has demonstrated that they should be considered one of the best teams in the area. Lindsey Graves led all scorers with 14 points.
The Drifters took an early 2-0 lead when Turner scored a long jumper from the top of the key. After Ashley Bansome tied the game at 3-3 with a backboard low post score, Lindsey Graves scored a layup to extend the Drifter lead to 5-3. Throughout the first quarter, the Drifters constantly exchanged players, while applying a pressure defense. After a layup by Lindsey Graves in the remaining seconds of the quarter, the Drifters led 7-3.
In the second quarter, the Red Devils rallied to take the lead on a 6-0 run. Utilizing a jumper from Bansome and a 3-pointer, combined with a jumper from Jasmine Moody, the momentum suddenly swung towards Lancaster. With the exception of a jumper from Turner, the Drifters offense became silent. The Red Devil rally culminated in a 12-9 lead going into halftime.
Heeding the Drifter chant, “step it up,” the Drifters offense shifted into fourth gear. After falling behind 19-13 in the third quarter, the game took on a different tempo in the final quarter of play. Canesha Fulcher started the scoring with a series of two foul shots, cutting the Red Devil deficit to four (15-19). Within the next five minutes, the Red Devils found themselves trailing 23-19 and reeling from a Drifter 12-0 run. With Carley Graves tenaciously grabbing every lose ball in sight, and the Drifters scoring more than 50 percent of their foul shots, the exhausted Red Devils faced the first loss of the season as the clock ticked away.
Leonard M. Banks
Sports Editor
To find photos from this game please go to "Photo Gallery" or click here.
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