by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
“I’ve told her she’s a better player than she thinks she is.”
How good was Atlee’s Sydney Henderson for coach Anna Prillaman Friday night?
She scored 26 points, 16 in the second half, as the Raiders rallied to top rival Hanover 61-50.
The Raiders, ranked fourth in the latest DigitalSports Top 10, trailed 31-16 on a Amanda Woolard (13 points) bucket a few minutes into the second quarter.
Atlee outscored No. 8 Hanover 19-10 to end the half as Henderson registered eight points and two assists in the spurt to bring Atlee within six at the break.
She was far from finished.
Henderson scored the first eight points of the third quarter for Atlee, before Richelle Price (12 points, 10 boards, four steals, three blocks) stroked a trey off a feed from Sydney’s sister Taylor (nine points).
That put Atlee within the shortest striking distance, down one at 47-46 heading into the final eight minutes.
Here came Sydney Henderson again. She got a steal off of terrific defensive pressure and converted on the other end for Atlee’s first lead since 8-6, ironically on Sydney’s first points of the game.
By this point, Henderson had registered her 1,000th point of her fabulous career.
A few second later she put in a 3-pointer, her fifth of the game, to force a timeout by Hanover coach Kevin Brooks.
However, the Hawks could get nothing going offensively in the second half, scoring nine points total after scorching the net for 41 in the first 16 minutes.
Hanover scored only three points in the deciding fourth period as Atlee moved to 14-0 all-time versus Hanover in girls basketball.
“They shot well both halves,” Brooks said. “The second half, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
Chelsea Coward had 18 points, Woolard 13 and Kim Browning 10 for Hanover. All but four of their points total came in the first half.
“Chelsea Coward had an out-of-her-mind game,” Prillaman said of the Longwood-bouncd forward. “They were hitting [shots] in the first half. It wasn’t fun to watch.”
Prillaman had a little better time watching the Henderson sisters, Price and Britt Hill (17 points) – who scored all of Atlee’s points – lead the comeback.
“They didn’t seem very shaky tonight,” said Prillaman, who mentioned the Raiders have gotten a bit jittery after trailing in games. “Obviously, the lead was erased pretty quickly.”
Atlee 13 22 11 18 – 64
Hanover 23 18 6 3 – 50
Atlee (): Hill 17, Spiers 0, S. Henderson 26, T. Henderson 9, Price 12, Ashcraft 0. Totals: 21 13-19 64. 3-point goals: S. Henderson 5, Hill 2, T. Henderson, Price.
Hanover (): Dillich 3, Coward 18, Hill 6, Jordan 0, Woolard 13, Browning 10. Totals: 18 9-12 50. 3-point goals: Woolard 3, Browning 2.
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