Charles Henderson holds off Dothan High

Charles Henderson held off a fourth-quarter rally from Dothan and continues to carry momentum into next week’s area tournament.

The Trojans, winners of five straight, outlasted the Tigers 61-52 in each team’s final regular season game at Dothan’s Jon Davis Gym. CHHS plays Eufaula in the first round of its area tournament at Rehobeth next week.

“We needed a win going to the area tournament,” Charles Henderson coach Carl Hollis said. “We’ve got a lot of improvement to do between now and then, but we played pretty well.”

The Trojans took a 41-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. Within two minutes, Dothan had tied it at 41, as Trey Holt converted a three-point play with 6:20 left.

But Hollis’ bunch didn’t fold. The Trojans scored the next nine, getting buckets from four different players, and put the game away.

“They’re not going to choke, but I worry about them panicking a little bit,” Hollis said. “The eyes get big. Tonight, they held their own and played with confidence and I’m proud of them.”

The teams were tied 10-all after one quarter. Tyler Mitchell scored 16 of his 23 in the first half for the Trojans, and Da’Vantez Jackson drilled a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the Trojans a 29-24 lead.

Dothan only scored eight in the third quarter, as Charles Henderson led 41-32 after three when John Michael Stephens got a pass and scored down low after the Trojans rebounded their own missed free throw. Hollis said playing a zone defense helped out in the win.

“We played them a zone defense and cut out penetration,” Hollis said. “We played on their shooters in the first half and sort of threw them off. I think they expected us to play a man and we played zone. They’re too quick for us to play them in man and we’re too tall.”

Charles Henderson also dominated the glass, capitalizing after getting several offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive in the fourth quarter. Mitchell scored off a rebound to give CHHS a 48-41 lead. Later, Robert Lee tipped in a miss to give his team a 56-49 lead with two minutes left.

“That’s been like that the whole season,” Dothan head coach Dedrick Sumpter said.

Charles Henderson avenged two earlier losses to Dothan this season.

“You can’t beat nobody three times,” Sumpter said. “I knew it was going to be very difficult to beat them again. They had beaten Northview, Enterprise and Eufaula.”

Sumpter said things started going south for the Tigers when reports out of the Mobile Press-Register on Jan. 27 said Sumpter was leaving to take the head football coaching position at Williamson High School in Mobile, and a Dothan Eagle report also addressed the situation.

 “The worst thing that could have happened was printing that stuff about me leaving,” Sumpter said. “That did me in. That hurt us. I told them not to do that, but it’s a business.”

Dothan has lost three straight games this week, and plays Northview next week in the first round of the area tournament at Enterprise.

Mitchell’s 23 points sparked the Trojans. Jackson scored 16. Barnard McGhee scored 22 to lead Dothan, and Trey Jackson scored 13.