COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS DEFEAT MCAULEY FOR THIRD PLACE
College Heights built a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter and held off McAuley’s late run on the way to a 36-31 win in the girls third-place game on Saturday.
Neither team held more than a one possession lead through the first half, but the Cougars (10-8) closed the third quarter strong and held a six-point advantage heading into the final eight minutes. CHC recorded the first three buckets of the fourth to build a double-digit lead before McAuley rallied in a big way to trim the lead to three points with less than 90 seconds to play. College Heights recovered and held off the Warriors in the closing seconds.
“It is always a challenge playing McAuley because they know us so well and we know them so well,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We got off to a rough start, both teams did, but we missed so many layups tonight and shot 21 percent from the field and still won the game. … That speaks volumes to our defense. We preach defense and practice defense. The kids came out, kept them in check until we gained a little offensive rhythm in the third quarter and that helped out a lot.”
“Anytime we are playing College Heights, we know it’s going to be a battle and because we play each other so much that we know everything about them and they know everything about us,” McAuley coach Mike Howard said. “It is basically who is going to take care of the ball and who is going to put forth the most effort. I thought our girls played with a lot of effort, but we just couldn’t take care of the ball. Anytime that you have more turnovers than you do points [34], it’s never going to be a good outcome.”
GAME ACTION
McAuley scored the first basket of the second half on a Kennedy DeRuy bucket to tie the game at 17s, but College Heights scored the next six points to build the first real separation of the contest. Jayli Johnson earned a steal for a layup on the break before she knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to highlight the spurt.
“We got into some passing lanes, got a few steals and actually knocked down a couple of layups,” Blankenship said of his team’s play in the third quarter. “Whenever you can get a couple quick turnovers like that, I feel like it makes us pick up the intensity even more on defense. But, it was just about finishing shots. If we can finish shots with our defense, we can play with most teams our size.”
The Cougars carried that six-point lead into the fourth quarter and converted the first three baskets of the final period to take a 34-21 advantage. Addie Lawrence started the quarter off with a 3-pointer before Johnson scored on the break before driving in for a hoop to make the score 34-21 near the four-minute mark.
The Warriors refused to go away without a fight, as McAuley rattled off the next 10 points to trim the deficit down to 34-31 with 1:27 left in regulation. Avery Eminger scored inside to start the surge before DeRuy recorded a three-point play and a 3-pointer off a turnover to cut CHC’s lead to 34-29 with 2:02 left. Avery Gardner earned a steal on the inbound pass and found DeRuy under the basket for a score to trim the lead to three.
“The first thing I mentioned in the locker room after the game, because I always try to start with something positive, is that they have relentless heart and effort,” Howard said. “You will never see our girls quit. They play hard until the end of the game. I thought that they did an amazing job in the fourth quarter to get back into the game. We switched it up defensively and started pressuring full court to create some turnovers, which led to those baskets. … Those girls kept fighting to the very end. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
College Heights answered with a basket by Lawrence inside the final minute to hold off McAuley and seal the win.
“We did not do a good job of keeping our poise and we panicked under the pressure a little bit,” Blankenship said of his team’s play down the stretch. “But we did what we had to do and finished down the stretch. We have some things we need to clean up in practice next week.”
SCORING LEADERS
Johnson led College Heights with 14 points, while Lawrence finished with nine points. Libby Fanning finished with six points in the win.
DeRuy finished with a game-high 18 points to lead McAuley in scoring. Eminger closed with seven points and Lily Black had four.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP-Julieth Rivera, Providence Academy
Lydia Shaddox, Providence Academy
Marcy Miller, Lamar
Josey Adams, Lamar
Jayli Johnson, College Heights
Kennedy DeRuy, McAuley
PROVIDENCE ACADEMY DEFEATS LAMAR TO WIN GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP
Providence Academy built a nine-point lead by the intermission and carried that pace throughout the second half on the way to a 64-52 win over Lamar in the Mercy-Warrior Classic girls championship game on Saturday.
The Patriots outscored the Tigers 17-9 in the first quarter and pushed the lead to nine by halftime. Providence won the third quarter and held Lamar at bay down the stretch to preserve the championship win.
Karolina Kiraga and Lydia Shaddox each had 14 points to lead Providence in scoring. Julieth Rivera added 11 points to give the Patriots three players in double figures.
Marcy Miller finished with 14 points and Zavrie Wiss closed with 13 to lead Lamar in scoring.
THOMAS JEFFERSON GIRLS 44, BLUEJACKET 16
The Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team captured fifth place and earned its fifth win of the season by beating Bluejacket 44-16 on Saturday at the Mercy-Warrior Classic.
Thomas Jefferson built a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter at 17-7. The Cavs led 26-10 at halftime and were up 38-11 by the end of the third quarter.
Gabbi Hiebert scored a game-high 21 points for Thomas Jefferson, while Lannah Grigg added 14 points.
On Friday, Thomas Jefferson’s girls beat Carl Junction’s junior varsity 47-34.
Hiebert scored 19 points for the Cavs, while Grigg added 10 and Nico Carlson contributed seven. DeShaye Buerge scored 13 points for the Carl Junction JV.
