LaShay Taft tried to carry City to victory all by herself Friday night at Western. She made six 3-pointers in the second half and scored 20 of her game-high 26 points in the final two quarters.
But Tenicia Spence helped No. 4 Western slow Taft and No. 9 City. Spence came off the bench to make some crucial long-range shots, scoring 11 of her team-high 14 points in the second half as Western hung on for a 60-52 victory in a Baltimore City league game.
Spence has a very clear role with the Doves. The left-handed junior shooting guard is the team's outside shooter, its zone-buster, and she played that role to perfection in this game. Spence made long shots right after Taft had done the same for City (6-3, 5-1) four times in the second half - stopping the Knights from making any long runs.
"That's my job, to shoot the ball," Spence said. "She shoots, I shoot. My shot was on today."
She made a jumper 19 seconds into the second half. After that came another long two-point shot before two of the biggest shots of the game. Taft scored all 14 of City's third-quarter points, and her fourth 3-pointer of the period cut the Western (5-4, 4-0) lead to 41-39 with 35 seconds left.
But Spence answered with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 19 seconds remaining. Her final 3-point shot was the true game-breaker, coming with 5:07 left in the game and giving Western a 51-47 lead - moments after Taft made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one.
The Knights never got closer than four the rest of the way.
"She played extremely well," said Western coach Tiffany Silver. "It was huge [because Taft] was feeling it."
Taft scored 20 of City's 25 second-half points. Western also needed help from Ashle Craig (12 points) and Jannah Tucker (11 points) to hold on. The Doves put on a lot of defensive pressure at times, forcing 18 City turnovers and disrupting its offense.
"We're just making too many turnovers, too many bad passes," said City coach George Petrides. "That's what is killing us against good teams."
C-Taft 26, Suber 1, Shropshire 9, Dillard 5, Eldridge 3, Giles 8. Totals: 15 15-24 52.
W-Craig 12, Spence 14, Bell 2, Stevenson 8, Jones 2, A. Tucker 2, Alston 5, McKnight 2, J. Tucker 11, Ward 2. Totals: 20 16-24 60. Half: W, 28-25.