Published: November 20, 2007 11:40 pm      

New Waverly girls edge Normangee 73-72

The New Waverly girls basketball squad got a good early-season test Tuesday night and had to fight to the finish for a 73-72 victory at Normangee.

The Lady Bulldogs (4-2) jumped out to a 19-8 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers cut it to 33-30 at the break. New Waverly pushed its lead to 55-49 in the third, then held off a late charge down the stretch to come away with the victory.

“Normangee is a good team, and they are state ranked in the Class 1A division,” Lady Bulldogs coach Eldridge McAdams said. “They have already upset some of our district foes this season and made a deep run in the playoffs last year. We really struggled at the free throw line. They got into foul trouble late and started sending us to the line. If we could have made more free throws we could have pulled away.”

Didra Jones led all scorers with 27 points for New Waverly and also had eight rebounds. Destiny Jones posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards in the win.

Amber Sanders scored 10 points and dished out five assists. Shanique Smith had seven points, and Raven Russell provided a spark off the bench with six points and six rebounds. Jessica Windborn and Alicia Scott each finished with four points for New Waverly.

“To come out of there with a win was big for us because we didn’t play as good as we can,” McAdams added. “We are playing some tough teams to get ready for district and we want to be in full swing. We are not playing like the Lady Dogs right now, but it will come.”

The Lady Bulldogs will take the rest of the week off then are back in action next Tuesday at North Zulch at 6 p.m.