Lady Pirates drop three at Leonard Christmas Tourney

By Jeremy Weber
jweber@campcountynow.com

A rash of injuries to key players left the Lady Pirates off balance at the Leonard Christmas Tournament over the weekend, where the team lost all three of it’s matchups.
A furious fourth-quarter comeback fell just short for the Lady Pirates in their opening matchup Thursday as Pittsburg fell to Texoma Christian, 50-43. After trailing the entire contest, the Lady Pirates fought back within two and trailed 43-41 with just over one minute to play. With the Lady Pirates forced to foul in order to extend the game, Texoma made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to hold off Pittsburg and get the win.
“It was just one of those frustrating games,” head coach John Chatham said. “We only used our full-court press in the fourth quarter. I think that if I had used it more throughout the game, we could have gotten a win.”
Pittsburg struggled to find the basket throughout the first half, scoring just 13 points as Texoma Christian built a 28-13 halftime advantage. Both teams scored nine in the third quarter before the Lady Pirates made their comeback bid in the fourth quarter.
Denasia Watson played the game despite having to deal with a cut under her right arm (her shooting arm). Watson fought her way through the pain, played the game mostly left handed and led the Lady Pirates in scoring in the loss with 12 points.
“I couldn’t believe she was playing, to be honest with you,” Chatham said about Watson’s performance. “I thought on the way over here that we were going to have to play without her. What she was able to do was simply amazing.”
Along with Watson’s 16 points, Ayanna Palmer scored 10, Farmer had six, NaKyia Brown scored six, D’Maya Hashaway had four points and Jasmine Walker scored two.
The Lady Pirates saw a 19-17 halftime lead slip away in the second half against Pilot Point in their second game of the tournament as they fell to the Lady Bearcats, 40-36.
 

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