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Columbia guard Erickah Roberson looks to pass while being defended by St. Augustine forward Da'Nahli Keyton on Thursday night. (JORDAN KROEGER/Lake City Reporter)
It was just a six-point game midway through the third quarter.
But then St. Augustine made a run and, as Columbia head coach Anthony Perry put it, his team mentally “checked out.”
The Yellow Jackets turned a close game into a blowout over the final quarter and a half, outscoring the Tigers by 18 the rest of the way to cruise to a 62-38 road win. The game completely got away from Columbia, which scored just 16 points in the second half.
The Tigers were forced to play catch-up the entire night after falling behind 13-1 to start the game. They managed to pull within three in the second quarter but never got closer again against a balanced SAHS attack that saw Aniyah Fisher score 16 points, DaNahli Keyton score 14 and Alayla Terry score 11.
“Our girls are not used to stuff being tough and hanging in there, but they knew they could do it because they fought their way back into the game after the bad first period,” Perry said. “Realizing that they’re in the game, they just have to keep fighting, and that was my message (to them). You have to keep fighting. Go with the flow of the game, but when they checked out of the game mentally, then it went downhill quick and St. Augustine built that lead up again.
“And that just hurts. That just hurts. Once you check out mentally, you can forget it. The game is basically over. I told them there’s a difference between losing a game and giving a game away.”
While St. Augustine (8-1) had no problems scoring, offense was a struggle all night for Columbia (5-5) aside from Jolena Gardner, who was the team’s only double-digit scorer with 18 points to go with 10 rebounds for another double-double. The Tigers shot just 11 of 44 from the field and made only 14 of 33 foul shots.
Usual scorers Ayesha Broxey, Eriel Baker and Zuri Hollie were all off their game, combining for 13 points. Perry says the team’s poor offensive output came down to focus.
“We want everything to go well for us from the start, and if that’s not happening then we focus on other things instead of just doing what we do well,” Perry said. “So the girls just have to grow up. We have to grow up, we have to get tough because this is the type of competition if we have plans on doing anything that we’ll see.”
After CHS pulled within 34-28 in the third quarter, SAHS rattled off a 13-4 run to close the period that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Fisher at the buzzer. Erickah Roberson opened the fourth with a layup for the Tigers, but the Yellow Jackets answered with a 9-0 run to put the game well out of reach.
St. Augustine shot the ball well from the outside, making eight 3-pointers. Fisher and Terry each knock down three from beyond the arc.
“It didn’t even seem like they were working hard,” Perry said. “It’s a good machine they have. They’ve got some outside shooters and then they also have post play, so that’s a good machine. That’s a good measuring stick because if we can fight our way back into the game, why can’t we stay in the game? So that’s what I’m going to be focusing on.”
After falling behind 13-1 to start the game, Columbia went to the second quarter down 19-9. The Tigers pulled within 23-20 with a 6-0 run, and after a bucket from Keyton, made it 25-21 on a free throw from Roberson. Columbia had a chance to grab the lead but missed 8 of 13 foul shots in the second quarter, and instead went into halftime down 29-22.
Foul shooting has been an issue all season for the Tigers, who entered shooting under 50% from the line.
“It’s not good enough,” Perry said. “That’s one area we have to work on constantly.”
Columbia is now off for the holidays before returning to action at Chiles on Jan. 3.
“Getting mentally tough is going to be an aim for late January, but the fight continuing for the whole game is just something we have inject in practice,” Perry said. “Once you’re on the rollercoaster you’re going to have ups and downs. You weather the storm, but once you check out, it really hurts.”