Clyde’s return helps ’Jacks rout Hagerstown
WYE MILLS – The Skipjacks took control of Friday night's 76-60 women's basketball victory over visiting Hagerstown Community College with a pair of first-half scoring bursts – and Denver Clyde was right in the middle of both runs.
Clyde may have missed the previous six games due to injury, but she didn't miss a beat against Hagerstown. The sophomore all-American scored five quick points as part of a 9-0 run that put the Skipjacks (8-0 overall, 4-0 league) in front to stay, then had five more points in a 14-0 scoring spree that gave Chesapeake a 28-9 cushion.
"That's Denver Clyde," said Chesapeake head coach Damon Nichols. "She comes in and she makes an impact."
Clyde finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocked shots in playing time carefully limited by Nichols.
"It felt great," said Clyde, who suffered a bruised arm in a hard fall in the opening minutes of Chesapeake's first game of the season. "My first thought was to come out and not try to do too much. I wanted to let the game come to me and try to fit in with the team."
"It was great having Denver back tonight," said Dejhonae Cannady, who had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Skipjacks. "She did what she needed to do."
After Sasha Orr's 3-pointer gave Hagerstown a 3-2 lead, Chesapeake's Sydney Small (12 points, six rebounds, three assists) hit a driving layup to put the Skipjacks in front to stay and Cannady sank two free throws. Clyde, who didn't start, scored five points in nine seconds shortly after being inserted into the lineup to finish off the 9-0 run.
Katara Pressley (six points, four rebounds) started the next scoring surge, hitting consecutive jumpers in the lane to give Chesapeake an 18-9 lead. Small, fouled on a missed 3-pointer, sank three straight free throws and Cannady scored on a breakaway layup. Clyde then had her second five-point scoring burst, hitting a transition layup and knocking down her second 3-pointer of the half to stretch the lead to 28-9 with 8:12 left in the first half.
Clyde finished with 12 first-half points and Cannady had 11 as the Skipjacks took a 41-22 lead into the break.
Hagerstown (3-9, 1-3) closed within 52-40 on a Tiffany Wallace free throw, but Clyde, Brianna Lawson (eight points), Cannady and Brittany Taylor (six points, five assists, three steals) each had transition layups as part of a 9-0 run that quickly rebuilt the lead to 61-40. The Skipjacks led by as many as 26 points down the stretch.
Miesha Adams led Hagerstown with 14 points and Katie Sprecher joined her in double figures with 10. Deidre Burch (nine points), Orr (eight), and Wallace (seven) provided the rest of the offensive punch for the Hawks.
While Clyde was the game's high scorer, Nichols said she's going to have to play her way back into basketball shape.
"I knew coming in I was going to have to play her in spurts," said Nichols. "You could see she was refreshed every time she came in."
The Skipjacks, who are off until after the new year, have now gone 36-4 (.900 winning percentage) since the start of last season. While pleased with that record, Nichols knows anything done in November and December is just a prelude to bigger things for teams that win championships.
"The first semester is just a tune-up," remarked Nichols. "We have to hit the floor running when we come back from the break."