Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Manassas girls rally to win Region 8-AA semifinal

from Commercial Appeal

Manassas had just enough “been there, done that” in them Monday night. As a result, they gave themselves a chance at a third straight trip to the state tournament with a 56-54 comeback win over Oakhaven in the Region 8-AA girls semifinals at Douglass.

The Tigers (20-7), District 15 runners-up will face District 15-AA champion Trezevant for the title Wednesday, then move onto a sectional game Saturday.

Senior Tiffany Jones had 16 of her 25 points in the second half, all after Oakhaven’s sophomore center Morgan Walton got into foul trouble. She hit four straight free throws to give the Tigers their first lead of the night, 51-48, with slightly more than three minutes to play.

“We had to stay calm and just play together,” said Jones, who has committed to UT-Martin. “Having been through it helped.”

Senior Phikala Anthony who scored just two points before the break, had 10 in the third quarter to start the Tigers back from a 29-19 halftime deficit. She finished with 16.

“We started to attack the basket and started getting free throws,” said Anthony.
Oakhaven (20-3) had cut the Manassas lead to 56-54 on a basket by Mar’shea Lewis with eight seconds left. And with 1.1 seconds to go, Anthony left a crack with two missed free throws.
Oakhaven got the ball with seven-tenths left and Tracee Hammer’s 3-point try bounced high off the iron twice before falling away.

“Oh, my goodness,” Anthony said shaking her head.

Junior Derica Wiggins led Oakhaven with 27 points.

“I told the kids not to hang their heads. They had a great season. We just need to come back and not make some of the same mistakes,” Oakhaven coach Frederick Thorns said.

One key difference in the game was free-throw shooting. Manassas hit 21-of-33, while the Hawks went just 2-of-13.

In other games
Region 8-AA: Trezevant’s Marcreshia Drummer scored 32 points and Khadejah Stevens chipped in 17 as the Bears pulled away from Douglass to win Monday’s semifinal game at Douglass. Keoshia McGhee scored 25 for Douglass. The Bears, champions of District 15-AA, will play Manassas in Wednesday’s championship game. Trezevant defeated the Tigers 72-69 last week in the district title game.

Region 8-AAA: Baylor signee Nina Davis scored 25 points and Tia Wooten added 18 as Central (23-4) won its semifinal game 68-45 over Houston. Aysha Harris led the Mustangs with 17 points. ... Overton eliminated Ridgeway 62-50 to advance to Wednesday’s title game. Kelsey Briggs scored a game-high 18 points for the Wolverines. This is the fifth straight year that the Wolverines and Warriors will face off in the region championship. Central won from 2009-11, Overton won last season.

Region 7-AAA: Munford will play in Wednesday’s championship game after defeating Hardin County 44-26 in Monday’s semifinal game at Brighton. The Cougars (26-5) will play Jackson North Side who eliminated Dyer County 64-44.

Region 7-AA: Covington improved to 33-2 by rallying from a six-point deficit after three quarters to knock off Dyersburg 62-55. The Chargers were led by Ashia Jones’ 20 points. Precious Harvey added 18 and Precious Dyson scored 15. Covington will play Westview in Wednesday’s championship game at Dyersburg.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.