Just when the Armwood Hawks thought they had Tuesday night’s game wrapped up, Megan Watson sparked an offensive explosion with less than two minutes to go and Strawberry Crest suddenly found itself with the win.
In the Chargers’ mind — and to hear Watson tell it last week — this game was going to be revenge for Armwood’s 76-46 win in Dover way back on Jan. 31 in the 2018-19 season. Tuesday’s 64-60 win at home did not come easy by any means, but it’s still a mission accomplished for Crest.
Crest got out to a 25-18 lead after one quarter by consistently staying a step or two ahead of the Hawks, who were able to draw fouls at will but otherwise couldn’t keep pace. Armwood, however, got more aggressive in the second quarter and started forcing the Chargers to make mistakes and turn the ball over. The Hawks took a 36-34 lead with just more than a minute left to play in the first half and held it until the third quarter.
The halftime break seemed to pump Crest up, as the Chargers were able to take the lead within two and a half minutes after Mya Lamar’s two made free throws capped off a 6-4 run. Watson, Taylor Butler and a solid defense kept Armwood from scoring until there was 4:14 left in the third quarter, but the Hawks then chipped away at Crest until they were able to go up, 48-47, at the free throw line with 11 seconds left.
It was fitting that the fourth quarter was the most physical of the night, even for a matchup both teams have been looking forward to since the schedules came out. Armwood had the upper hand in that struggle for almost all of the quarter, but then Crest’s 11-3 run happened with less than two minutes to go.
It started with Watson burying a corner three, then scoring two more points after snatching a rebound and breaking away from the defense. The Chargers kept pouring on the offense and gave Armwood no breathing room until the Hawks drew a foul with 19.6 seconds left and made one shot. Watson drew a foul immediately afterward and went two-for-two at the line to make sure her team’s lead wasn’t in danger, and all Armwood could get after that was a layup and the loss.
The win improved Crest’s record to 4-1.