Danville struggles in Lady Hawk Classic
The Danville Lady Hawks went 1-3 in the fourth annual Lady Hawk Thanksgiving Classic last week at Danville High School.
In their first round game, Danville defeated Pleasant Grove 57-28. The visiting Spartans scored first to take a 2-0 lead, but it was all Danville afterward as the Hawks held Pleasant Grove to just 7 more points in the first half on their way to a 25-9 halftime lead.
Danville would extend the lead to as much as 34 points before settling for a 29-point win.
Celese Sharbutt led a balanced Hawk attack with 12 points. She also had 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Haley Rae Garnett and Sydni Shelton each had 9 points.
Senior Hannah McClung also pitched in 8. Sloan Lindsey led Danville in rebounding with 7. Shelton had 4 assists.
Danville lost its second round game to Cold Springs by a score of 41-39. The Lady Hawks got off to a hot start, taking a 15-6 lead after the opening period. Danville would score only one point the entire second quarter, but a good defensive effort allowed the Lady Hawks to enter halftime clinging to a 16-14 lead.
The teams would swap baskets throughout much of the second half before a couple of late threes by the Eagles would give them a lead they would not relinquish.
Shelton led Danville with 10 points while Jesse Oliver and McClung each had 7. Sharbutt, despite missing almost the entire second due to foul trouble, led all rebounders with 15. Sharbutt also had 5 steals but was unable to get going offensively as Cold Springs held her to just 4 points.
“Cold Springs did a good job of keeping Celese from getting open looks” said Lady Hawk coach Paul Wilson.
Black Friday was just that for the Lady Hawks as Danville went 0-2 on the second day of play. Lexington defeated the Lady Hawks 57-31 while Clements defeated Danville 57-51. As the score would indicate, not much went right for the Lady Hawks against Lexington.
“They shot the ball real well in the first half and we could not get anything going” Wilson said.
Lexington outscored Danville 24-6 in the second period to take a comfortable 40-19 lead into the locker room. The second half saw the Lady Hawks do a much better job defensively, but Danville continued to struggle on offense.
The Lady Hawks ended the tournament with a loss to area opponent Clements. The Colts, led by junior Deneshia Malone took home a six-point victory on the strength of their outside shooting as Clements knocked down 10 threes.
“We knew we were going to have a hard time stopping Malone inside,” said Wilson, “but they were able to hurt us with the 3 as well.” Malone finished with 18 points.
Oneonta won the tournament, defeating Northridge of Tuscaloosa by a score of 60-55. Cullman finished third with a win over Cold Springs. Danville will travel to Priceville on Friday.
