Decision puts team down by 9

Harlem girls coach Kim Chambers knows his team will have ups and downs this season.

With no seniors, Chambers says, his team will be inconsistent throughout the early part of this season.

"Some games I'm going to like what I see," he said. "Other games, I won't."

On Nov. 23, he liked what he saw.

The Lady Bulldogs beat Evans 42-34 at home to move to 2-2 for the season.

Junior guard April Woodard scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the second half, as Harlem erased a 17-10 halftime deficit by outscoring the Lady Knights by 15 in the second half.

"We had a rough first half," Woodard said. "But we kept focused and made sure we could get back into the game."

Chambers' biggest concern this season was developing a viable secondary scoring option to Woodard, who is averaging more than 13 points a game.

Victoria Thomas emerged as the secondary threat against Evans, scoring 11 points.

"Victoria and (freshman) Kacee (Camp) have been starting to emerge as shooters that can take some heat off of April," Chambers said.

Evans was led by Bekah Gibbs' nine points and seven points from both Brittany Booker and Tynisha Butler.

Chambers' exultation after the victory turned to disappointment after his boys team fell to Evans 61-48.

Hank McCladdie paced the Knights with 21 points and Brandon Durr added 11 as the Knights outscored the Bulldogs 41-30 in the second half.

But Chambers said he made the mistake that cost the Bulldogs the game.

At the end of the third quarter, Harlem was down four points and had the ball with 36 seconds left.

Chambers decided against playing for the last shot of the quarter.

The Bulldogs missed the shot, and Evans had the ball and held for the last shot.

Glen Miller drained a three with three seconds left to give the Knights a seven-point lead.

Orlando Bradley then stole a careless inbounds pass and got a shot off in one motion. The two-pointer gave the Knights a nine-point advantage heading into the final quarter.

"I'm taking the blame for this loss," Chambers said. "We could have held for one point. If we score, we head into the fourth down one or two. If we don't, we're down four. But now we head into the fourth down nine.

"It was just too much to overcome."

Evans coach Kevin Kenny agreed.

"That was definitely the turning point," he said. "That was a huge momentum swing."

Harlem's best quarter was an 18-point fourth quarter, but Evans scored 22 to extend its lead.

"We got into a zone where we were looking into the paint and getting second-chance buckets," McCladdie said. "We are a tough team in the paint."