Lady Crusaders End Season With CAA Tournament Loss

            February 20, 2008 -- After losing to the Carolina Athletic Association (CAA) regular season champion Rabun Gap 47-32 on Senior Night, the Shannon Forest Christian School (SFCS) Lady Crusaders found themselves seeded #6 for the CAA tournament, drawing the #3 seed Asheville Christian (ACA).  This was a team that had defeated Shannon Forest less than a week ago by 17 points and a team that the Lady Crusaders had not defeated in over three seasons.  SFCS surprised everyone by defeating ACA 52-42, which was probably the biggest win of the season for the youthful Lady Crusader team. The Lady Crusaders started off taking a 15-6 lead into the second quarter.  ACA made a run in the second quarter and cut the Crusader lead to just 4 points at the half.  The Lions and the Crusaders played an even game in the third, but ACA did cut the lead to just two points heading in to the final quarter.  This quarter proved to be the deciding one. The Lady Crusaders dominated the final frame and pulled away to get the victory 52-42.  Freshman Katie Harrell led the way for SFCS with a career high 27 points and a key 11 for 15 from the foul line. Harrell was named to the CAA All-Conference Team.  Chantelle Bateman added 15 points to help the effort.

              This win would be the last of the season for SFCS as the next night the Lady Crusaders fell to Asheville School 56-35 to end the season that had many ups and downs.  Among the "ups" was winning the two tournaments and beating Asheville Christian, while the "downs" included 4 losses by a total of 8 points.  “These 4 losses actually kept the Lady Crusaders out of the NCISAA state playoffs -- something we had come to expect the past two seasons,” commented Head Coach Robert Hawthorne.  “We knew when the season began we would face some challenges as we returned only one senior, Chantelle Bateman, that had any formidable varsity experience.”  “The girls exhibited toughness all season and gained a lot of valuable experience -- which will bode well for the future.  We do say goodbye to Chantelle as she moves on to the next chapter in her life.  We'll truly miss her, however as I stated the future is very bright for the program with the players we have returning many of which made a significant contribution to the team this year.  We missed being in the state playoffs and will make it a goal to return next year with the foundation we have in place,” added Hawthorne.

      For updated individual player stats go to: 
      www.hometeamsonline.com/LadyCrusaders