Senior guard Janiya Johnson scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half, helping 4A second-ranked Star City expand a one-point halftime lead and beat host Watson Chapel 39-24 on Tuesday.
The win started a three-game week for the Ladydogs (16-3, 5-0 4A-8), who have won four in a row and five of their last six. Watson Chapel (6-9, 4-3 4A-8) saw its three-game win streak end.
Johnson led the Ladydogs’ defensive effort with four steal. Johnson also went 4 for 6 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Wildcats were within 17-16 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter before the Ladydogs found a way to turn their defense into offense. Star City went into a stall offense for about the final 2 minutes of the frame — scoring on a Johnson bank shot before the buzzer to lead 29-20 — and resumed it for the first 3 minutes of the fourth quarter.
“We wanted to press and we wanted to pressure the passer so they couldn’t see to get it in to their bigs,” Star City Coach Becky Yarbrough said. “We did a better job of that. We held the ball in our stall well tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but they did what they had to do to get a win.”
Star City led 8-7 after the first 8 minutes and 15-14 at halftime.
For Watson Chapel, De-Keira Kentle had 10 points and three rebounds and Abriunna Dendy totaled nine points and three rebounds.
“We were down one, but we had so many opportunities where we could have been up at half,” Watson Chapel Coach Leslie Henderson said. “So, to me, we’ve got to correct ourselves. We’re not worried about Star City or this game as much as what we could have controlled.”
The varsity boys game between Watson Chapel and Star City was postponed due to a covid-19 case within the Wildcats’ program. The Wildcats are scheduled to return to action Jan. 26 at Monticello.
Watson Chapel’s girls team will host Crossett at 6 p.m. Friday with the boys game postponed as well.
Star City will host Camden Fairview on Friday and Monticello on Saturday.
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