Sports
UPCOMING EVENTS
12
29 2021
Prep basketball: The Ville Classic at Mechanicsville 5:30 p.m./7:15 p.m.
12
29 2021
College baseball Rosemont at Randolph-Macon 7:00 p.m.
| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional
Hawk boys, girls split in Bird Cage finals By Rob Witham for The Local HANOVER — It didn’t take long for Hanover girls basketball to realize when they were on the floor against Powhatan in the “Battle in the Bird Cage” girls basketball championship Wednesday night at Hanover High School that they were, in essence, looking in the mirror. With a similar playing style, the Indians seemed a step faster and a bit hungrier as they raced out to a 24-12 lead after the first period and kept the Hawks at bay for a 63-42 victory to not only seize the championship trophy, but to hand Hanover its first loss of the season. It’s also more probable than possible that these two teams will see each other again come Region 4B playoff time in midFebruary. For Hanover head coach David Butler, it’s better to make the mistakes now, and be more prepared when it matters most. “They honestly outran us; something that we’re not used to,” Butler said. “I don’t think it stunned us, but it caught us off guard to watch someone else beat us down the floor when we’re usually beating everybody else.” The hustle was displayed on both sides of the floor by Powhatan, whose roster conJoel Klein for The Local
Hanover junior center Tori Sperry eyes the basket as Dinwiddie’s Sadie Hudson defends in the Hawks’ 63-30 win in the first round of the Battle of the Bird Cage on Dec. 21.
The Mechanicsville Local
sists of just nine players. But their conditioning is at midseason form and was, in great part, why the Indians were able to use multiple transitional situations to build the early lead. It also didn’t help that Hanover (8-1) struggled mightily from the floor in the second quarter, scoring just six points, four of them late, to cut a 20-point deficit down to sixteen, with Powhatan leading 34-18 at the break. The second half was more evenly played, which played to the advantage of Powhatan, happy to trade basket for basket. Hali Harris scored a team-high 14 points for the Hawks, while Campbell Doughty scored 11 and Kayla Ford added eight. Harris and Ford were named to the All-Tournament Team, as were Most Valuable Player Faith Henderson of Powhatan, who led all scorers with 18 points, and teammates Kayla Terry, who scored 11, and Katherine Cerullo, who added nine. Corynn Lampman also scored in double figures for the Indians with a 13-point performance. As a team, Hanover shot just 33% (8-of-24) from the free throw line, adding to its offensive woes. It was the first time this season that the Hawks did not score at least 50 points. “We settled for the threeball too much, and by the way we realized we could penetrate, drive and take it to the rack, it was too late,” Butler noted. “It see BIRD CAGE, pg. 16
December 29, 2021
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