NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - Apprentice School senior Tyechia Cooke's free throw with seven seconds left capped a 12-2 Lady Builder run in the last 4:24 for an Apprentice School 50-48 victory over Peace College on Saturday.
The Pacers opened the game scoring the first five points and held a lead until the 10:56 mark when a pair of Cooke free throws gave the Lady Builders their first lead at 12-11. From there neither team held more than a three-point advantage as a Tyisha Battle 3-point play with 17 seconds left for a 25-23 Apprentice School lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Lady Builders scored the first four points to take their biggest lead of the game on a Rahshann Lewter layup 43 seconds into the half for a 29-23 advantage. From there Peace went on an 18-5 spurt over the next 9:17 for a 41-34 advantage on a LeAnne Horne 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining. That lead grew to eight points with 4:24 left as Candra Hill converted a four-point play by banking in a 3-pointer and hitting a foul shot for a 46-38 Peace lead.
Apprentice School turned up the defense in the last 4:24 as they held Peace to an 1-for-8 performance from the floor. Six points by Natasha Jones chopped the deficit to 46-44 with 2:31 left. Following a LeAnne Horne jumper that pushed the lead back to four points with 2:15 left, Battle hit a free throw and a Shade Blow jumper with 69 seconds left put the Lady Builders down 48-47. Peace missed three attempts before Lewter snared a rebound to set up a go-ahead bucket from Battle off a feed from Jones to take a 49-48 lead with 33 seconds left.
The Pacers had an open look from Christy Freeman for a 3-pointer that bounced out of bounds to give the Lady Builders the ball with 16 seconds left. Apprentice School played keep-away from Peace until Cooke was fouled going to the basket. She hit the back-end of a two-shot foul for the 50-48 lead. A last second shot by Peace bounced long and the Lady Builders pulled out the victory.
Battle was the leading scorer for Apprentice School with 16 points and six rebounds, while Cooke added 15 points and eight rebounds. Horne was the leading scorer for Peace with 13 points, while Freeman added 11.
The Lady Builders now travel to Division II power Elizabeth City State University for a 6 pm tip on Wednesday night.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL 50, PEACE COLLEGE 48
PEACE (4-3): Cross 2-5 0-0 5, Hill 1-6 1-1 4, Seeger 0-5 1-2 1, Freeman 3-15 5-6 11, Mickey 1-6 1-2 3, Weavil 0-0 1-2 1, Minton 0-2 0-0 0, Lynn 2-7 2-2 6, Horne 4-11 4-4 13, Prorock 0-0 0-0 0, Deal 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 15-61 15-19 48.
APPRENTICE (4-5): Blow 2-3 1-2 5, Jones 2-8 3-4 7, Lewter 1-6 2-2 4, Cooke 5-12 5-6 15, Battle 6-11 4-7 16, Brandon 0-5 1-2 1, West 1-3 0-0 2, Gerald 0-2 0-0 , Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Henderson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 16-23 50.
Halftime: Apprentice 25-23. 3-point goals: Peace 3-12 (Cross 1-2, Hill 1-1, Freeman 0-8, Horne 1-1); Apprentice 0-7 (Jones 0-3, Lewter 0-1, Brandon 0-2, Henderson 0-1). Rebounds: Peace 40 (Seeger 6); Apprentice 47 (Blow 10). Total fouls: Peace 21, Apprentice 16. Fouled out: none. Assists: Peace 9 (Hill, Freeman, Lynn, Horne 2); Apprentice 10 (Cooke, West 3). Att.: 159.