Tisha England, in her sixth season as head women’s basketball coach at Catawba Valley Community College, reached 100 careers wins on Thursday night when the Red Hawks nipped the Montreat College junior varsity in overtime at CVCC./PHOTO BY CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
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HICKORY – Tisha England reached another milestone as head women’s basketball coach at Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) on Thursday night.
The Red Hawks held off visiting Montreat College’s junior varsity, winning 75-70 in overtime at the Tarlton Complex for England’s 100th career coaching win. She is in her sixth season.
ENGLAND TAKES ABOUT HER MISSION: https://twitter.com/i/status/1063278354915360774
The victory improved CVCC to 2-1 this season and comes a year after England passed mentor Tommy Edwards for the most women’s basketball coaching wins at CVCC.
“It means a lot,” England said in a CVCC press release. “To be honest, I don’t think about wins and losses in that sense as far as trying to reach that peak. My desire is that these young ladies take these life skills and life lessons with them wherever they go and to be productive citizens through the game of basketball.
“I want to impact their lives in a positive way so when they take these teachings to wherever they go in life that they’ll be able to hold on to them and be able to overcome adversity. That is my desire.
“I love the game of basketball. The Lord has blessed me to use this as a tool for them to be productive citizens and to get to know them and push them to be the best that they can be.”
Montreat led CVCC 33-29 at halftime behind nine first-half points from Kendal Marlowe before CVCC answered back, outscoring the Cavs 23-10 in a third quarter that included seven points from sophomore forward Sherry Johnson.
“We started out great and then we had our rocky spots, but they fought back,” England said. “They had heart at the end. We made some turnovers, and at the end, they just fought back hard. It was all or nothing tonight to gain our pride back. The girls did a wonderful job.”
The Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter by outscoring CVCC 19-9 to force overtime.
Johnson had six points in overtime, finishing with a double-double with a team-high 28 points and 14 rebounds. Ivy Eller and Zharia Brown also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
England said she is proud of the Red Hawks fought back after their home loss on Tuesday at home to Clinton Community College.
“It makes me feel that they are learning how to overcoming adversity, and that’s what I want,” she said. “I want us to overcome adversity. At the end, it took everything that we had. It was all about heart tonight.”
CVCC’s next game is Sunday at CVCC against Belmont Abbey with a 6 p.m. tip. Admission is free.
