As has been the case for much of the season, constant pressure by the Arts & Sciences girls’ basketball team was enough to break an opponent. The Lady Patriots’ swarming, end-to-end defense turned a one-point lead midway through the second quarter into a 16-point halftime lead and eventually a 65-45 victory in the Region 3-A championship game at Arts & Sciences.
“Defense is just a matter of who wants it more,” said CSAS senior Alexis Anderson, who was one of three Lady Patriots to finish with 16 points and two 3-pointers. She was also named tournament MVP. “Basketball is a game of runs, so we just keep pressuring people and try to put together as many runs as we can.”
The Lady Patriots’ defense also shut down Marion County junior Keta Robinette, who led the area in scoring this season but managed just 11 points Wednesday. Robyn Anthony and Kayla Kelly also had 16 points and a pair of treys for CSAS. The win marked third consecutive region title for the Lady Patriots, who will now host Red Boiling Springs in a sub-state game Saturday at 7 p.m. Marion County will travel to Region 4-A champion and fifth-ranked Jackson County.
“We go into every game trying to wear the other team down and get easy baskets,” Lady Patriots coach Clay Martin said. “Our offense really feeds off what we do defensively.”
Prior to the girls’ title game, the 3-A boys’ semifinals produced a pair of expected victors, although the final scores were closer than expected. Arts & Sciences beat Marion County 63-61, only after Warriors’ senior Cody Henegar had a 3-pointer glance off the front of the rim at the buzzer, and Grace Academy held off stubborn South Pittsburg 68-63. The boys’ title game is tonight at 7, at CSAS.
The Patriots led by as much as eight early in the fourth quarter, but Marion surged ahead with a 12-0 run, holding the hosts scoreless for more than four minutes. Malik Dodds’ 3-pointer from the left corner with 36 seconds remaining broke a tie and gave the Patriots the lead for good. Alex Stallion’s two free throws extended the lead to four but Marion pulled within two with 14 seconds left, then had a chance for the upset fall just short at the buzzer.
Grace Academy led throughout the first half and built as much as a 12-point advantage early in the third before South Pittsburg answered with a 19-2 run. Golden Eagles’ senior wing Taylor Wilson nailed a momentum-shifting 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, one of his five treys for the game, cutting South Pittsburg’s lead to two.
Grace then began the final quarter with a 12-2 run to take the lead for good, although South Pittsburg had two chances in the final 35 seconds to tie the game, but missed field goal attempts each time. Wilson led Grace with 29 points and Mr. Basketball finalist Brandon Herman added 21. South Pittsburg’s Jiajuan Fennell also had 29 points and Terrell Robinson finished with 25.
“Brandon gets a lot of attention from opposing defenses so Taylor really stepped up and was huge for us tonight,” Grace coach Jon Mattheiss said.