March 29, 2009 — The Charlotte Amalie Lady Hawks beat the Central High School lady Caribs 55-46 Saturday to win the 2009 V.I. girls varsity basketball championships on the Caribs' home court.
The undermanned Lady Hawks, who only had seven players in uniform, were able to use a huge third quarter to blow open a close game, and then held off the Caribs in the fourth quarter to sweep the best two of three finals 2-0.
"It was a hard game, and we knew it was going to be tough since we only traveled with seven players," said Lady Hawks Coach Myron Corbett. "With some of the team having to travel to D.C., we had no bench to speak of, and that is why I am so proud of what these girls did tonight. They were able to hang tough and pull it out."
Already down 1-0 in the best two of three championship finals, the Lady Caribs came into Saturday night's contest looking to even the series and pushed the finals to a third game on Sunday. However, the shorthanded Lady Hawks were also keen to try to end things on Saturday, because a third game would be tougher against a deeper Lady Caribs team. Both teams went at it with a purpose from the opening whistle. After one quarter, the Lady Hawks, with a balanced attack, were up by two at 15-13. The Caribs got eight points from Shamyre Vanterpool.
The second quarter was equally as good as the first. However, this time it was the Lady Caribs with the balanced attack, and they were able to outscore the Lady Hawks 13-11 to knot the game at 26 heading into the locker room at the half. In the second period the Hawks got six and five points from Lashonda Creque and Kelsey Trass, respectively, to keep the Caribs from getting a halftime lead.
The third quarter was the turning point in the game as the Lady Hawks turned up the defensive pressure to start the period, and it rattled the Caribs, as they were only able to get two baskets for a total of four points. The Lady Hawks, on the other hand, had a much easier time offensively as they netted 13 points from five players to lead 39-30 heading into the final quarter.
The Caribs battled valiantly to get back into the contest, but the Lady Hawks were able to answer every run by the home team. Lanese Bough scored 10 points in the final period as she tried to put her team on her back, but it was not enough, because they were not able to get the stops they needed defensively. Even the intentional fouls proved fruitless as the Lady Hawks were deadly from the charity stripe, hitting 10 of 12 for an 83 percent strike rate. In the end, both teams ended up with 16 points in the final period as the Lady Hawks were able to maintain the nine-point advantage from the end of the third quarter for a 55-46 final score.
The Lady Hawks were led offensively by Creque, who netted 16 points; Amara Williams dropped in 11; and Aesha Peters and Shayla Kelly both finished with eight points. For the Lady Caribs, Bough dropped in 16 points and Vanterpool netted 12 in a losing effort.
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