Thursday, February 28, 2013

Manassas rallies for championship

from Commercial Appeal


Manassas pulled off a comeback Monday to have the opportunity to play Trezevant in the Region 8-AA finals. And the Tigers came back from the dead for a 64-60 win over the Bears Wednesday at Douglass to win the region championship.

Tournament MVP Philkala Anthony, who led her team with 26 points, took a feed from Tiffany Jones for a layup that broke a 60-all tie with 17 seconds to play, then hit 2-of-4 free throws in the final seconds for to clinch a third straight regional title for the Tigers (21-7). Anthony had 12 of her 26 points in the final quarter, while UT-Martin signee Jones added 11 of her 24. Oesha O’Neal added 10 points, all after the break.

Manassas will host Martin Westview in the sectionals Saturday while Trezevant travels to Region 7 champ Covington.

Trezevant blew Manassas off the floor in the first 16 minutes, taking a 41-13 halftime lead behind 19 off junior Marcreshia Drummer’s 29 points. To that point, the only mistake the Bears made was leaving their home uniforms at school and having to borrow Douglass’ white jerseys.

But foul trouble and fatigue began to catch up with the Bears (19-8), who have just six players on their roster. With 11 seconds left, four of them were on the bench with five fouls. In between the Bears had to pull up so hard on their defensive intensity that Manassas put together a 21-0 comeback.
“I told our kids at halftime they had to keep believing, and we also had to get back to our game plan, which was attack the basket.” said Manassas coach Tommy Warren.

Even with foul trouble lurking, the Bears still held a 49-35 lead after three quarters, led by Manassas transfer Drummer, a 6-foot combo guard who was a matchup nightmare.

Junior Ashlee McGee had 11 first-half points, but fouled out with 4:21 to play, and her team up 49-46. With Trezevant’s lineup down to three, Manassas finally took a 60-59 lead on two Jones free throws with 30.6 seconds left. Drummer hit one more free throw for a 60-60 tie, but she would foul out in the final seconds.

“Our kids played so hard, but the whistles got us,” said Trezevant coach Brandon Hill.

Covington wins Region 7-AA crown
Precious Harvey scored 22 points and Janekia Mason added 15 to lead Covington (34-2) to a 65-54 win over Westview in the Reigon 7-AA championship game at Dyersburg.

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