Sanderson girls basketball
Sanderson freshman (21) Derricka Lewis swoops in for two of her 13 points against Southeast Raleigh Thursday night.
Lady Spartan comeback
runs out of 'steam'
The Sanderson girls basketball team's 44-41 loss to Southeast Raleigh Thursday night can be easily divided into three sections thanks to one unfortunately bump to the face.
With the Spartans and Bulldogs deadlocked at 18 points apiece with 3:05 left in the second quarter, Sanderson freshman Derricka Lewis crashed into a Bulldog ball-handler, with her nose taking on the brunt of the collision.
With the ninth-grader — who scored eight of the team's first 18 points — sent to the bench to get looked at by the Sanderson medical staff, Southeast surged ahead, scoring 11 of the next 15 points over the next quarter.
"When Derricka left, it took a little bit of steam out of us," admitted Sanderson head coach Marcus Davis. "The team was concerned for her welfare. And we didn't know whether she was going to come back."
After half, Lewis emerged from the locker room with ice on the bridge of her nose and seemed likely out of the game for good. But midway through the third quarter, she was back on the floor, igniting a Sanderson rally no less.
The Lady Spartans fought back, drawing within one point at the end of the quarter, trailing by one, 29-28. Dashawna Smith helped aid the Sanderson run, nailing a three-pointer in the rally.
Click here for highlights from the Sanderson/Southeast Raleigh contest.
The Bulldogs regrouped for the start of the fourth, tallying the final quarter's first six points, but the Spartans retaliated right back as Smith again delivered a big trey.
Lewis promptly stripped a Bulldog guard on the following possession and dropped in a lay-up, cutting the Southeast lead to 35-31. With five minutes to play, the contest was now neck-and-neck to the finish.
And Courtney Trumps' three-point play — the guard grabbed a missed shot, scored and drew the foul — with 2:13 left cut Southeast's advantage to one, 37-36.
But Sanderson never came any closer — though they were terribly close. With less than 15 seconds remaining, down two points, Lewis drove to the basket, but her shot hit the front of the rim and trickled out.
Lewis finished with 13 points in the loss, Trumps added eight and Smith had seven. Donjernica Jones scored four, and Ashley Davis and Australia Crowell had three points apiece.
Following the contest, Coach Davis lauded his group's effort in the second half, especially after a third-quarter timeout.
Sanderson's Australia Crowell (30) scored three points Thursday night.
"We felt like we were getting pushed around a little bit, and we needed to play a little more aggressive," he said. "We needed to step our fight up to them, and we did. We were able to settle down and run our offense. We did a good job running our offense, and playing our game."
Davis said his squad struggled the most when it got away from its game plan.
"In the first half we sort of got into a running match with them, and that's not typically what we want to do in this type of game," he said.
Sanderson struggled from the foul line early as well, converting just six of 14 first-half attempts, which allowed the Bulldogs to get ahead.
But Davis was proud of the Spartans' late resiliency, especially his ninth-grader's comeback.
"I'm proud of the fight that we had tonight," he said. "And Derricka, that was a good bump that she took. But she's a fighter and she came right back."
The Lady Spartans look to get back on track at Panther Creek Monday, Dec. 7. Three days later Sanderson starts Cap-7 Conference play, visiting Wakefield.
