WILMINGTON, N.C. – Hoggard’s girls basketball team entered Wednesday’s halftime break at Brogden Hall fully entrenched in a rivalry battle.

The adjustments made coming out of the locker room flipped the game on its head and secured the Vikings’ 20th win of the season.

A 17-0 third-quarter run and defensive game plan that held New Hanover’s star scorer, Brianna Stanley, without a second-half field goal, turned a halftime deficit into a 46-35 victory.

Hoggard is now 20-1 overall and has won 11 straight games.

Stanley dug the Wildcats out of an early 5-0 deficit with all seven of her team’s first-quarter points. It was enough to claim a two-point lead through the opening eight minutes.

Tristan Shivers and Avery Fitzgerald combined for 10 points in a back-and-forth second period. Fitzgerald hit a mid-range jumper late in the half to knot the score at 17-17.

In response, Stanley stepped back and drained a long three at the horn to rip back the lead at 20-17.

Two minutes into the third, Hoggard rallied from a 22-20 deficit with the game’s next 17 points.

A dozen of AK Chance’s team-high 18 points came in the third quarter. It included a trio of three-point baskets. Shivers and Kicey Gardner added the other eight points for the Vikings who led 37-23 by the time the fourth quarter came around.

Free throws allowed New Hanover to slowly chip its deficit back down to single digits. Stanley hit all four of her fourth-quarter free throws to finish with 18.

Hoggard hosts Ashley on Friday night, and after a Tuesday game at South Brunswick, welcomes New Hanover across town for a rematch on Thursday, February 13.

BOX SCORE:
HOG: 5-12-20-9 46
NHHS: 7-13-3-11 35

SCORING:
HOG: Chance 18, Shivers 13, Gardner 7, Fitzgerald 6, Seward 2
NHHS: Stanley 18, Doughty 16, Smith 1

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