An undefeated District 6-A regular season didn’t lead to a tournament championship for the Arts & Sciences girls’ basketball team last yaer.
So when CSAS all but clinched a second straight regular-season title with a 76-55 victory over Whitwell at home Tuesday night, the Lady Patriots saw no reason to celebrate, despite their district dominance again this season.
“That was a game I’ll never forget,” CSAS coach Clay Martin said of his team’s upset loss in last year’s 6-A semifinals. “We won’t be relaxing. I’m anxious about every game. Every team makes me nervous.”
Arts & Sciences (16-2, 8-0) had to play from behind early in Tuesday’s game, as Macy Kilgore scored 11 of Whitwell’s 13 first-quarter points. The period ended with CSAS up by one, but in a 1:03 span of the second quarter, the Lady Patriots used their quickness to extend their lead from two points to 10.
“Lately we’ve been starting slow, and then we make a push, usually in the second quarter,” Martin said. “We just keep working hard and try to force people into taking shots they don’t want to take.”
CSAS took an 11-point lead into halftime, and senior Jamisha Featherstone scored eight of her team-high 21 points in the first four minutes of the third period as the Lady Patriots continued to pull away. A basket from Kayla Kelly, who finished with 13 points, gave Arts & Sciences a 30-point advantage with 6:04 remaining.
Robyn Anthony and Terilyn Rodriguez added 11 points apiece for CSAS, which won its first Region 3 championship last season and has even bigger goals for the rest of this year.
“I think where we stand right now is very good,” Featherstone said, “but to take it to the next level, we’re really going to have to work.”
Kilgore finished with 25 points for Whitwell (15-9, 9-2), and Halle Ware totaled 14. The Lady Tigers will be the No. 2 seed for the district tournament that is scheduled to begin Feb. 20 at South Pittsburg.
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