Sports
FHHS Girls Basketball Outduels Queens High School For Teaching, 43-30
Rangers switch sites due to water-damaged gym but still get the win.
In a game that had to be relocated due to a water damaged floor, it was the Forest Hills girls basketball team that held its ground and went on to a convincing 43-30 win against Queens High School for Teaching Friday night.
Shortly before tipoff, Rangers Coach Michelle Davis was told the venue had to change from the regular girls gym at Forest Hills to the boys' court. It took the Rangers nearly the entire first half to grow accustomed to their home away from home, but 10 points from point guard Jodi Ann Humphrey and an inconsistent but ultimately effective defense helped the Rangers improve to 9-1.
Queens High School for Teaching kept the game close with a team-high 12 points from junior Samantha Bond, but eventually the pressure from the home team overwhelmed the visitors.
Hero: Junior Sharon Rios poured in a game-high 15 points, including converting a key steal in the 3rd period into a score and a foul. She drew several fouls throughout the game, and her tenacious defense also forced the Tigers into some key mistakes, setting up teammates for quick scores and eventually helping build an insurmountable late lead.
Turning Point: With 2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Rangers made their big push. Already leading, Forest Hills' guard Jodi Ann Humphrey scored on driving layups on two out of three quick possessions following consecutive steals by the Rangers defense. Forest Hills had quickly scored 6 points in under a minute, and lead for good 30-19 going into the fourth quarter.
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Bottom Line: Despite having two players in double figures, Queens High School for Teaching couldn't mount an inside game, and their shots weren't falling consistently.
Ashley Hightower (11 points) and Samantha Bond brought the team as close as 18-17 with 4:41 left in the third quarter, but Forest Hills pressed them successfully and converted on turnovers, sometimes preventing the Tigers from even setting up a half-court offense. Forest Hills' eighth consecutive win keeps them in second place in the standings, one game behind Hillcrest.
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Quote: "It was a bad win and a very, very sloppy game. Usually we play in the other gym, but we had to get moved here because of a situation with the floor," Rangers coach Michelle Davis explained. "We missed a ton of layups and ton of foul shots again — if we make our shots, we win this game by 50. We missed a ton of shots and our defense was not where it was supposed to be at all — half court or full court. We'll work on defensive drills and shooting in practice to improve that."
Who's Next? Forest Hills stays home for a game against 4-6 Campus Magnet right after the holiday weekend on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 4:30 p.m.
Box Score:
Teams Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final HS for Teaching 4 7 8 11 30 Forest Hills 6 10 14 13 43