By Staff
From Staff Reports
The Northview Lady Chiefs battled back from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat Monroe County 54-53 and capture 3rd place in the Big Mama New Year's Classic Basketball Tournament, held at the Rocky Bayou Christian Academy in Niceville, Fla.
The Lady Chief's come-from-behind victory was spirited by the performance of Brittany Syria who dropped in 21 points for the Lady Chiefs and grabbed nine rebound. Alexis White added 14 to the score and grabbed six off the glass. Emily Wiggins also contributed with eight points in the heated contest and Shana Barton had four points.
"We only took six players with us and the other teams had 13 or 14 players," Lady Chief's Assistant Head Coach Amy Holland said. "The coaches and players looked at us in amazement, saying, you're only playing with six players."
Northview started the tournament defeating Cottondale High School 58-31 before dropping to host Rocky Bayou 64-47 in another hard-fought contest. The defeat landed them in the final round against Monroe but the girls had already won the respect of everyone there.
"The girls fought hard and played good basketball. They were real excited. Even the announcer said we were the toughest team there when he called us out for third place. It was a big accomplishment for the girls," Holland said.
The Lady Chiefs returned to action Tuesday night at home against Paxton High School and will face Catholic High School on Thursday, again at home.