CRESTVIEW — Early season injuries and defections have left Crestview High School’s girls basketball team searching for answers.
Fortunately the season is still young and veteran Coach Kathy Combest knows how to get the most out of a team.
“We’ve had some things we’ve had to overcome, but we will get there,” she said after Thursday’s District 2-6A game with Choctawhatchee.
Indian senior Nadia Fingall was one of the things the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome.
Fingall, a 6-foot, 2-inch post player who has signed with Stanford University, is ranked the number 17 prospect in the country.
Fingall was a good as advertised as she scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Indians to a 53-39 win.
Choctaw Coach Don Brown was pleased with the win, but he stressed he saw some areas of concern.
“It’s always good to get a win, but we still have to go back and do a lot of work,” he said. “A lot of things looked sloppy tonight.
“There are a lot of people double teaming and triple teaming Nadia. We have to have other kids step up (and score), but that will happen.”
Fingall got off to a hot start scoring 10 points in the first quarter and 19 in the first half.
She scored the game’s first basket with 15 seconds off the clock. Crestview tied the game a minute later on a basket by NyQuaya Collins.
Back-to-back baskets by Choctaw’s Justyce Riggs put the Indians in front to stay.
Fingall scored eight of the next 10 points for Choctaw.
Catera Rutland and Tiara Payne shared Crestview’s scoring with Collins as the first quarter played out, but the Bulldogs had no answer for Fingall as the Indians led 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same song. Choctaw (9-1, 1-0) went to Fingall as the primary offensive threat and Crestview (1-5, 0-2) tried to stay in the game with balanced scoring.
The Indians led 31-17 at the half and kept the game will in hand the rest of the way.
Fingall sat a large part of the fourth quarter, but by that time the Indians had a comfortable lead.
Fingall was the only Choctaw player in double figures. Riggs was the second leading scorer for the Indians with six points.
Collins topped Crestview with 11 points. Payne chipped in nine points. Rutland and Netaya Winston each had six points.
The Bulldogs have faced a lot of adversity in the still young season. Two players quit and three would-be starters are currently unavailable due to injuries.
But even with the hardships the Bulldogs never backed down from the bigger Indians.
“They are not going to stop fighting,” Combest said “They have that much pride in themselves. We are not as strong as we want to be right now.”
Choctawhatchee 16 15 12 10—53
Crestview 9 8 8 14—39
CHOCTAWHATCHEE (53)
Breona Duncan 4, Miranda Brown 2, Dae Dae Matthews 4, Justyce Riggs 6, Gabby Brown 4, Malaysia Moore 4, Nadia Fingall 29. Totals 25 3-5 53.
CRESTVIEW (39)
Amaih Banks 4, Tiara Payne 9, NyQuaya Collins 11, Catera Rutland 6, Netaya Winston 6, Dionjenae Hendrix 3. Totals 15 1 6-11 39.
Crestview-Choctawhatchee girls basketball box
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fingall, Indians too strong for Crestview (PHOTOS)