Oakleaf came out on top in a tough defensive match-up against Terry Parker 39-35. The Lady Knights improved to 17-1 on the season. Both teams were missing a starter from their line-ups. Terry Parker (6-8) was without Zoriah Mobley due to injury and Oakleaf was without Kaylah Turner for an undisclosed reason.
Terry Parker controlled the game early because of offensive rebounds as they built a 10-3 lead. Oakleaf’s offense struggled through the first quarter as Coach Rene Howell had her team pick Taliah Scott up as soon as she crossed half court and kept two bodies close to her making it difficult to get a good offensive flow. Coach Fred Cole of Oakleaf called a timeout and put Fantasia James on the ball and the offense started to work as they cut the lead to 2 by the end of the first quarter, 11-9.
The second quarter was played evenly as Terry Parker maintained their lead throughout. Oakleaf was able to take the lead for the first time as the half came to an end on a short jump shot in the paint by James putting them up 19-18. Terry Parker quickly regained the lead to start the second half on a steal and layup by Kennedy Horton. Oakleaf wasn’t able to take the lead again until late in the third quarter as they scored 5 points in a row on a layup by James and a 3-pointer from Scott putting them up 26-25 to end the quarter.
Terry Parker’s defense was stifling though, and it wasn’t long before they regained the lead 27-26 on a free throw from Horton. Turnovers plagued both teams as they went back and forth in the fourth quarter, but Terry Parker still led much of the quarter. Oakleaf was able to take the lead again 33-32 on a big three from Scott and a tough shot in the paint by James with under three minutes left in the game. They continued the back and forth play as Terry Parker tied it up at 33 on a free throw from Horton. Oakleaf went back up 35-33 on two free throws from Scott. Yet Terry Parker tied it up again on a nice pass from Janell Johnson to Takia Brown for an easy layup.
Brown then gets a huge block at the defensive end as Oakleaf was forced to take the ball out and turned it over on a travel with 1:15 remaining in the game. Terry Parker had plenty of opportunism to break the tie, but they had a turnover, got it back on a steal from Jaide Williams and she was fouled but missed the front end of the 1 and 1 bonus. Oakleaf called a timeout with 31 seconds and calls a play for James and she came through making a tough, contested shot in the paint. It appeared that Terry Parker would tie the game up easily as Johnson was able to get in the paint to attempt a layup, but was denied by James with a huge block.
Terry Parker still had a chance as they retained possession but committed another turnover and was forced to foul. Scott sealed the game with two free throws and Oakleaf came out on top in a game where points were hard to come by. All Oakleaf’s points were scored by Taliah Scott (20) and Fantasia James (15) except four. They got the other four points on two huge baskets in the second half at times when they struggled to score from Trinity Ferebee off the bench. Terry Parker was led by Takia Brown (10), Jaide Williams (8) and Terriell Clark (6).
