Overton holds off Antioch to advance to girls state semifinals

images and article from Commercial Appeal

Overton's Amber Holmes (1) drives the ball in to Antioch's D'Toria Fowler (20) during the Div. I Class AAA girls' basketball quarterfinal at MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Wed., March 6, 2013.

The Overton girls basketball team will take the victory. Other than that, the Lady Wolverines didn’t feel like they had much to celebrate Wednesday.

Making their fifth straight appearance at the Big Dance, the Wolverines hung on for a 51-45 victory over cold-shooting Antioch in the quarterfinals of the AAA state tournament. Overton (32-6) plays in the semifinals Friday at 11:30 a.m. against Johnson City Science Hill, which eliminated Bradley Central earlier in the day.

“There’s not a lot of time for hoorah-ing,” said Wolverines coach Lynn Smith. “I know, the staff knows and the girls feel we can all play a lot better. Thank God we’ve got a day to work on some things.”

Overton's Philecia Atkins (11) drives the ball past Antioch's Jenise Davis (10) during the Div. I Class AAA girls' basketball quarterfinal at MTSU

Antioch, which was making its first state appearance since 2001, never got things going offensively and shot just 26.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the line. But, despite being at a size disadvantage, the Lady Bears controlled the glass (42-31) and that was the primary reason they were able to pull within two late in the game after trailing by 10 early in the fourth quarter.

“We gave up too many offensive rebounds,” said Smith. “They’ve got quick guards and they were scrappy. They never quit.

“Today was the first time all year we played zone, so it was kind of pick your poison. When you play zone, you have to play with man (to man) principles. We were standing around flat-footed and not understanding what we needed to do.”

Overton led 27-11 at one point midway through the second quarter and led 42-32 early in the fourth. But Jenise Davis (19 points, nine rebounds) sparked a 7-0 Antioch run that got it within three.
Two timeouts by Smith failed to get things back on track and when Davis knocked down a jumper with 1:22 to go, Antioch (26-7) trailed just 47-45.

Overton's Kelsey Briggs (3) shoots over Antioch's Christina Hill (32)

But Georgetown signee Kelsey Briggs, who led the Wolverines with 20 points, Philecia Atkins and Fontanelle Walker combined to go 5 of 6 from the line down the stretch.

“We did a lot of crazy things, but we were able to hold it together,” said Atkins. “I think our experience really helped us.”

Added Briggs, who went 7 of 10 from the floor, “Like coach says, we know teams make runs. We just had to work through it.”

Overton's Erin Wilson (5) shoots

Antioch coach Mary Beth White said her team just couldn’t make it over the hump. The Lady Bears never led after a brief 5-4 advantage.

“We went 11 of 22 from the free-throw line and lost by six,” she said. “That about sums it up.”
As always in March, advancing is the main thing. And Smith said that’s a positive — even though he was hard-pressed to find many others.

“Kelsey Briggs scored,” he said. “Atkins made shots. Walker rebounded. But we’re not really pleased. We can do a lot better.”