Lady Cougars outlast Temple

Copper Basin’s first-half blowout turned into a nail-biter in the fourth quarter of Saturday afternoon’s District 5-A girls’ basketball semifinal.

The third-seeded Lady Cougars led by 16 points in the first half before No. 2 Tennessee Temple held them scoreless in the third period and got within a point with less than 40 seconds left in the game.

A key offensive rebound and a 5-for-6 performance from the free-throw line in the final seconds helped Copper Basin hold on for a 37-29 victory and a spot in Tuesday’s championship game.

“I’ve been talking to them all year about our rebounding at the end of the game,” Lady Cougars coach Amy McGowan said. “We came up with some huge ones today, and I think that made the difference.”

Copper Basin advanced with a win over 21st Century on Friday, while the Lady Crusaders were playing their first game in more than two weeks. The Lady Cougars opened the game with an 11-0 run and took a 21-8 advantage into halftime as Temple shot 1-for-20 from the floor in the first two quarters.

“I think that had a huge effect,” Lady Crusaders coach Mark Alexander said. “Two weeks is a long time for anybody, but I don’t want to make excuses. Copper Basin was just the better team today, but I’m proud of our girls for the way we battled back and put ourselves in position to win the game.”

P.J. Sexton opened the second half with a 3-pointer for the Lady Crusaders, and another from Candace Dyer and a free throw from Kellie Kellogg got them within 21-16 with 5:06 to play. Those would be Temple’s final points of the period, however, as the Lady Crusaders failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities after their defensive stops.

“They just missed a lot of shots in the first half,” McGowan said. “We were on Dyer pretty good, but she’s such a good player she’s still going to get her points. In the second half they got some good looks, and they knocked them down.”

After another 3 from Sexton, Dyer outscored Copper Basin 10-4 in a 4:18 span of the fourth quarter, which ended with the Lady Cougars clinging to a 30-29 lead with 38.2 to play. Temple again struggled to convert on offense, and after Copper Basin freshman Brianna Hyatt missed the back end of a one-and-one, senior Brittany Hyatt grabbed the rebound and put it back to push the Lady Cougars’ lead to four with under 20 seconds on the clock.

Two free throws from Brianna Hyatt and two from Lindsey Cole sealed the win for Copper Basin, which lost to the Lady Crusaders in last year’s district semifinals. Brittany Hyatt led the Lady Cougars with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Dyer led all scorers with 18 points.

* Grace Academy 80, Silverdale Baptist 39: Fuquan Harper’s 12 first-quarter points helped the second-seeded Golden Eagles race to a 44-18 halftime lead and avenge a regular-season loss to the Seahawks that prevented them from earning a share of the district title. Harper finished with 18 points, while Brandon Herman scored a game-high 27 for Grace, and Taylor Wilson and Terrell Church added 10 apiece.

* Grace Academy girls 50, Silverdale Baptist 40: The top-seeded Lady Golden Eagles trailed 22-21 at halftime, but a 15-7 fourth-quarter advantage helped them pull away. Kaylan Dilts led Grace with 19 points, and Kylea Sharrock had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Silverdale.

* Tennessee Temple 81, David Brainerd 33: Jeremy Sexton and James Kemp each scored 18 for the Crusaders, while Brandon Andrews had 15 and Jarrod Johnson added 10. Temple will play Grace for the championship Tuesday night at 7:30.