Lady Cavs protect second place position
By Brian Hall, Sports Staff Writer

Caroline Lady Cavs rebounded from last weeks Riverbend loss, with victories over King
George and Spotsylvania.

The game at Riverbend was tight early on, but the first year Bears, who have lost just once all season, pulled away in the second half for a big victory, 55-30.

After such a defeat, Fridays game against King George became even more important to the Lady Cavaliers and their quest for post season positioning.

We knew this was probably a very important game for us. Coach Alan West said.

Coming off the loss to Riverbend, we knew what were trying to do is protect our second place position, so we have an opportunity to have a bye in the (district) playoffs.

Caroline went up early on the Foxes, 2-1, after a jumper by senior forward Salita Childs.

King George responded to regain the front, and held onto that lead at the end of the quarter, 12-10. Sparking the Lady Foxes was Tee Gray. The senior guard knocked down three treys in the first frame and added a free throw to account for 10 of her teams 12 points.

The teams traded baskets throughout most of the second quarter; with each team taking a lead and the other tying the score right back. At the 1:50 mark of the second, Delisa Childs hit a pair of free throws to knot the score at 18. Moments later, Delisas big sister Salita scored on a lay-up to put Caroline on top, 20-18.

The elder Childs struck again about 30 seconds later, this time with two free throws to push the Lady Cav advantage to four. The team went 22-18 into halftime.

Following Salitas free throws, Delisa and Tee Gray were each charged
with a technical foul for tussling on the sideline.

The incident was apparently sparked when Gray elbowed the younger Childs in the chest while running the baseline, prompting Childs to respond with a headlock. Childs was ejected from the game and Gray to the bench for the final 16 seconds of the half.

Following the halftime break, the Lady Cavaliers came out on fire. Carolines main option was to dump the ball in down low to Childs and Chelsea Woolfolk. The front court duo connected on lay-ups and put backs, as the Lady Cav lead soared to 20 points.

The Foxes finally scratched the scoreboard with a free throw at the 1:43 mark, but the damage had been done. When the frame had ended, Caroline had outscored their visitors 19-1 in the third, with Childs and Woolfolk scoring 17 of those points.

As expected, the fourth harbored little excitement as Caroline cruised to a 55-31 victory.

While not condoning what happened, West credited the skirmish between Delisa Childs and Gray for his teams third quarter spark.

Its unfortunate that that occurred, but that actually had a positive affect on us, and it apparently had a negative affect on King George.

Salita Childs led Caroline with 20 points and 19 rebounds, while Woolfolk added 19 and eight respectively. The Lady Cavs also got a boost from Knyesha Hilton with eight point and eight assists. After scoring 10 first quarter points for the Foxes, Tee Gray was held to
just eight more the rest of the night.

As for the Lady Cavs drastic turnaround after the Riverbend game, West thought the schools adjusted exam schedule left the team a bit drained mentally, especially Woolfolk who went scoreless and didnt attempt a shot.

Chelsea was not herself that night, he said afterwards. She just was not prepared to play that game, and I think that was the biggest difference.

On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Cavs traveled to Spotsylvania and knocked off last years Battlefield District champions, 61-52.

Childs again was the pacesetter, with 34 points and an unofficial school record-boys or girls-23 rebounds. Childs 34 points against the Knights puts her just eight points shy of 1,000 for her high school career. Hilton also got in on the act, with 18 points and 12 boards.

The J.V. Lady Cavaliers also suffered a tough, one-point loss to Riverbend last week, 32-31, despite 16 points from Brittany Beasley. The junior varsity Cavs rebounded with a 36-30 win over King George behind 19 points from India Adams, and followed that victory up with a dismantling of Spotsylvania, 50-16.

The Lady Cavaliers return to action Tuesday night at Chancellor before returning home Friday against Spotsylvania, and Saturday for Senior Night against Chancellor.

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