By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
WALTERBORO — Tahleea Heyward hit a career milestone in the midst of a fourth-quarter comeback, but Beaufort Academy’s girls came up short in a 40-36 loss to Orangeburg Prep on Friday in the finals of the War Hawk Holiday Tournament.
After knocking off host Colleton Prep 56-40 on Wednesday and rallying for a 33-31 win over Patrick Henry on Thursday, the Eagles found themselves in another tight game in the title tilt.
The Indians led 21-17 after a choppy first half and beat BA back in transition repeatedly to build a 30-20 lead midway through the third quarter and force Chip Dinkins to take a timeout. OP led 36-25 after three quarters, but the Eagles showed signs of life toward the end of the third, foretelling another fourth-quarter surge.
Heyward led the rally, slashing into the paint and fighting through a foul for the bucket that pushed her over 1,000 career points, and she hit another bucket while being fouled to pull BA within 36-32 with 5:43 left.
The Eagles couldn’t maintain the momentum in their third game in three days, though, and OP’s stingy defense kept BA at bay.
Heyward and Mike’Ala Washington each scored 14 points and Kamirah Freeman added six for BA, which was back at Colleton Prep to open region play with a 61-40 win behind 20 points from Heyward, 12 from Freeman, and 11 from Claire Tumlin.
