Second half dooms Fillies in loss to Lady Commodores

Down 14-4 at one point in the first quarter, Harrison County fought back and led host Tates Creek at halftime on Monday night, 26-25. To start the second half, the Fillies were awarded two free throws after it was discovered that a Tates Creek player was not in the official score book.

Charley Hatfield made one of those charity tosses to give Harrison County a 27-25 lead.

Then the Lady Commodores unleashed a naval assault that swamped the Fillies, forcing 19 second half turnovers by Harrison County and outscoring the Fillies 23-3 in the third quarter and 19-3 in the fourth quarter, on their way to an easy 67-32 win.

“As competitive as we were in the first half, it was really disappointing the way we played in the second half,” said Fillies head coach Jason Crisp on Monday night. “Once again, turnovers proved to be our undoing.”

Playing without point guard Lorraine Dennie for the second straight game, Harrison County outscored the Creekers 18-11 in the second period to take that halftime lead.

Hatfield hit a three pointer and added a pair of put-backs in the period to pace Harrison County. Brittany Murphy scored all four points in the period and had all eight of her points in the first half for the Fillies.

Offensively, Harrison County was limited to only six points in the entire second half, three in both the third and fourth quarters.

Harrison County’s only field goal of the second half, a put-back by Jordan Doram, came with less than two minutes to play in the game.

The only other points Harrison County scored in the second half were on single free throws by Hatfield, Sherese Doram, Tiffany Snider and Lyndsey Cooper.

After the St. Patrick game two weeks ago, it was discovered that Dennie was playing with a fracture in one of her knees and has been held out of action since. It is uncertain when she may be able to return.

“It obviously hurts when you lose the only experienced point guard you have, but we have to adjust and have somebody step to the plate and get the job done,” said Crisp. “We have to be able to handle that adversity. I’m confident that we will be able to get the job done and find somebody that can fill in for her.”

Last Thursday, Harrison County dropped a heart breaker when they lost to host Bracken County in triple overtime, 68-63.

As it turned out, a disputed basket by Harrison County early in the game proved to be the difference.

“I think it was Charley Hatfield who made what was signaled as a three-pointer in the third quarter,” explained Crisp. “Our score-keeper wrote it in the book as three points, the radio guys (Jim Swinford and Edward Schwartz) wrote it down as three points, but we find out when the fourth quarter starts that the home (official) book wrote down only two points. It’s not right, but that’s what we had to go with since theirs is the official book.”

That single point proved to be the difference for Harrison County as they were tied 51-51 at the end of regulation.

Hatfield exploded for a career high 27 points in the loss, with 25 of them coming in the second half to lead Harrison County back from a 28-15 halftime deficit.

She scored all but two of Harrison County’s 17 points in the third quarter as Harrison County narrowed the gap to 42-32 heading into the fourth period.

Hatfield kept firing away in the fourth quarter and got some help from Murphy as Harrison County forced an overtime. Hatfield hit shots at the end of regulation and at the end of both of the first two overtimes to extend the game.

Murphy hit a pair of big fourth quarter three-pointers and added a pair of two-pointers to aid the Fillies late game comeback. She finished with 15.

Pam Custard came off the bench for the Fillies and added eight points, including a pair of clutch free throws in the second overtime.

Harrison County returns to action on Saturday night when they travel to Maysville to take on Mason County. They return to the Hilltop next week for a pair of games against district foe Deming on Tuesday night and Campbell County on Friday.