Heathwood Hall’s A’ja Wilson rises above Cardinal Newman to get a rebound. A’ja Wilson had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Heathwood Hall Lady Highlanders staved off a furious second–half rally by the Cardinal Newman Lady Cardinals to win 33–32 Friday, January 22 at Heathwood Hall.

The Lady Cardinals began the game by scoring the first four points, all from Alex August, but the Lady Highlanders (8–8, 4–1) scored the next 10 points. Wilson and Carson Lunceford had five each to help Heathwood build a 16–10 lead at the end of the first period.

The second quarter was not good for either team, as the two squads combined to shoot 2–for–15 from the field. The Lady Highlanders scored both of those buckets, and they led 20–10 going into halftime.

The Lady Cardinals (6–10, 2–3) came out fired up in the third quarter, outscoring the lady Highlanders 14–4 in the period to force a tie at 24. Molly Rainwater led the charge with eight consecutive points at the end of that run.

Cardinal Newman’s Molly Rainwater gets a hand on Logan Ress’s running shot. Photo by Jim Marczesky The fourth quarter saw back–and–forth action from both squads. The two teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the quarter until August was fouled while making a lay up. Her free throw gave the Lady Cardinals a 31–30 lead with just over four minutes to play. Rainwater hit the front end of a one–and–one to make the margin two points at the 1:05 mark.

After a couple of misses by Heathwood and a missed free throw by Cardinal Newman, the Lady Highlanders called timeout with 26 seconds remaining to set up a final play. They got the ball to Wilson, who drove the lane and made the lay up, getting fouled in the process. She made the free throw as well giving the Lady Highlanders a 33–32 lead with 17 seconds left.

Heathwood Hall’s Corey Littlejohn tries to go over Cardinal Newman’s Michael Collins for a rebound. Photo by Jim Marczesky The Lady Cardinals still had to foul three times to put Heathwood at the line, and they committed two of those fouls. With five seconds left, the Lady Highlanders tried to inbound the ball, but the pass was too high for Wilson, and Rainwater corralled the loose ball and passed it to August, but her shot hit the back rim and bounced out at the buzzer, allowing Heathwood to collect the win.

Lunceford contributed seven points for the Lady Highlanders. August paced the Lady Cardinals with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Rainwater finished with nine points.

•••••••••••••••••

In the boys’ game, the Highlanders jumped out to a 23–4 lead in the first quarter and maintained that lead throughout the game winning 68–49. Mac Whalen led the Highlanders with 19 points. Brother Morgan had 13, and Corey Littlejohn had 12. Austin Ajukwa led the Cardinals with 19 points.