There’s optimism around the C.D. Hylton girls basketball program these days, and Tuesday night the Bulldogs showed why.
Locked in a see-saw game the first half against visiting Forest Park, host Hylton came out after halftime with renewed determination and effort, ultimately defeating the Bruins 51-33. It was the Cardinal District opener for both teams.
Since going 11-9 in 2017-2018 the Hylton girls had won a total of 13 games in four seasons before this one. This year, they already have five wins.
“This is the first time we’ve beaten Forest Park in a long time,” said Hylton senior forward Farrah Abdallah. “It feels good.”
Forest Park (0-1, 0-5) looked good early, using its size and strength down low to dominate the boards in the first half. The Bruins led 15-10 after a quarter, but the Bulldogs (1-0, 5-2) went on a 10-2 run to open the second, sparked by guard Aaliyah Thrash’s three-pointer and subsequent steal and lay-up. Forest Park stayed close, however, and only trailed 24-22 at halftime.
Then it was all Bulldogs. They out-rebounded Forest Park in the second half by the same amount as Forest Park had done to them in the first half. Coach Donald Grimes’ Bulldogs also increased the defensive pressure, causing more turnovers and limiting Forest Park to just 11 second half points.
“We had a slow start…we had to pick up our energy–our energy was low,” said Abdallah. “He [Coach Grimes] knows that we play better in the third, fourth quarter so he believed in us.”
The positive energy was evident on the Hylton bench all night long. Abdallah led her team with 16 points and eight rebounds, using her footwork to get to the line and out-quick the Forest Park bigs. Thrash added 12 points as did fellow dynamic sophomore Akira Walton. Each had a pair of three-pointers. Reagan Cathcart provided a nice spark off the bench as well, contributing seven points.
It’s a wide-open Cardinal District this year, with a lot of solid teams but a lot of graduated talent as well. The Bulldogs think they can be a major factor in the district race, but know they have a lot of work to do. Abdallah was optimistic about her team’s chances, but quick to point out they have to improve.
“We have to have better starts,” she said. “Start off fast and execute everything better.”
Bri Shelton led the Bruins 11 points. Both teams will resume Cardinal play on Friday, with Hylton taking on Gar-Field and Forest Park battling Freedom-Woodbridge.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| HYLTON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| THRASH | 5-15 | 0-0 | 12 | 7 | 1 | |
| ABDULLE | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| ABDALLAH | 5-9 | 6-8 | 16 | 8 | 0 | |
| WALTON | 4-19 | 2-2 | 12 | 4 | 3 | |
| GARLAND | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Cathcart | 3-7 | 0-0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | |
| Crawford | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Crisp | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 18-57 | 10-12 | 51 | 29 | 6 | |
| Threes: Thrash 2-7, Walton 2-7, Cathcart 1-3, Abdallah 0-1 | ||||||
| FOREST PARK | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GRANT | 3-5 | 0-0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | |
| PARAISO– DAGUISO | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| CANADY | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| SHELTON | 5-11 | 1-5 | 11 | 6 | 0 | |
| THORNTON | 2-11 | 1-2 | 5 | 8 | 1 | |
| Graybill | 3-5 | 0-0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
| McGee | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Allen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Drayton | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 14-41 | 2-7 | 33 | 29 | 7 | |
| Threes: Graybill 2-4, Grant 1-1, Canady 0-1, Paraiso-Daguiso 0-1, McGee 0-3 | ||||||