Briarcrest Girls Remain Perfect

from article and image Commercial Appeal

Briarcrest’s Jasmine Cincore looks for an open lane against MHEA

The Memphis Home Education Association girls basketball team brought its Big 3 to Briarcrest on Tuesday.

The Saints countered with a Big 3 of their own, plus a little something extra.

Briarcrest — the top team in the state Division 2-AA poll and the second-ranked team in The Commercial Appeal’s Dandy Dozen — remained undefeated with a convincing 55-38 victory over the Eagles, who entered the contest as the No. 1 home-school team in the country and No. 4 in the Dandy Dozen.

The Saints are now 18-0 and have won 44 of 46 contests dating back to the start of last season.
“We’ve won 18 in a row and we’re playing with a lot of confidence,” said Saints coach Lee Smith. “We expect to win ... I’m extremely proud of the kids.”

The Saints did a fine job of limiting MHEA’s trio of potent shooters, Jamie Crum, Bailey Wilkes and Torri Lewis, while getting fine contributions from their stars.

Elise Holden led the way with 21 points, while twin sister Brynn added 10. Reigning D2-AA Miss Basketball Jasmine Cincore had eight, but added a couple of huge blocks and served as a one-girl press break when MHEA (17-5) tried to get back into the game in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to stop their three guards,” Elise Holden said. “We knew if we could do that we could win. And we moved the ball well.”

Briarcrest’s “X-factor” was Lindsey Taylor, who provided eight points — all in the second half — and a ton of energy off the bench.

“She didn’t play last year; she wasn’t in the rotation,” Smith said. “But she’s really our best off-the-ball defender. That’s the reason she’s on the floor, her defense.”

“When they went to a zone (in the second half) I was thinking, ‘yes, now we’ll get some shots,” said Eagles coach Tracey Rice.

“But we just weren’t hitting them. I’d love to see Horn Lake (undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the Dandy Dozen) against Briarcrest. I definitely think those are the two best teams in the area.”