By JORDON SEMIEN/For the Reporter

COLUMBIANA — The Cornerstone Christian girls’ defensive dominance was on display on Jan.11 as they defeated the visiting South Montgomery County Academy Raiders 49-22 on the back of Kerri Garrett’s huge night.

The Chargers waited two hours for their game to begin as the Raiders were delayed due to a passing storm system.

Once the game started, CCS jumped out to a 13-8 lead with Garett racking up eight rebounds in the opening period alone. S.M.C.A answered with four steals in the first, as they tried to match Cornerstone’s intensity.

The Raiders found themselves in an early hole with four team fouls at the end of one, and adding another three in the second. The Chargers would take advantage of the Raiders’ foul troubles as they used the second quarter for a 12-2 run, pushing their lead to 25-10 at the half

The third period opened the same way the second closed, as the Chargers took over in the paint. Raider fouls and second chance points would lead to a nine-point run for the Chargers in midway through the third.

The fourth period was dominated by the Chargers’ defense as they pushed their lead with stifling defense. Cornerstone’s Hollie Odgers opened the quarter with a big block on South Montgomery’s Sydney Ballard as Caitlyn Fortenberry added two steals to her own stat sheet. Odgers finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Fortenberry added 11 points and 10 rebounds and was matched by Alyssa Scheiber’s 10 rebounds and six points.

The highlight performance of the night came from Garrett’s double-double effort. Garret turned in 18 points to match her game-high 29 rebounds, half of which came in the first half of play. Garret was one of three Chargers to record a double-double as Cornerstone would go on to win 49-22.

Coach Lee commented post game on how proud he was of his team’s commitment to cleaning the offensive and defensive glass, and their offensive improvement.

“I think we shot the ball a lot better than what we have been shooting it,” he said. “Overall effort and how the girls played, very proud of how they played, moving the ball around and getting open shots. I though it was a lot better than what we’ve been.”