Thursday, February 28, 2013

Munford girls win first region basketball title

from Commercial Appeal

Using it's signature defense that waited until the second half to make its mark, Munford won its first regional girls basketball championship and advanced to its first sectional with a 67-51 win over Jackson North Side on Wednesday in Brighton.

Robneisha Lee, who shared District 13-AAA MVP honors with teammate Shaliyah Wiggins this season, was named the Region 7-AAA tournament MVP. She provided the offensive spark for Munford with 20 points on Wednesday.

Munford (27-5) trailed North Side (13-19) 33-32 at halftime when Jada Perkins scored at the buzzer. There were 11 lead changes in the first half.

"Opponents average 43 points a game and we gave up 33 in the first half," said Munford coach Steve Poindexter. "In the first half our defense was non-existent."

North Side, which also advances to sectionals -- its first since 2010, was aggressive in the first half and Breanna Cockrell scored 15 of her team-high 19 points in the first and second quarters.
Destiny Robinson scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half for North Side which was playing the Cinderella card after a fourth-place district finish.

After Lauren Zvolanek, who scored 18 points, gave Munford a 36-35 lead early in the third quarter, the Lady Cougars continued to pound the ball inside and stretched the lead to 18 at 65-47. The defense forced North Side into 19 turnovers for the game.

"The strength of our team is defense," said Poindexter. "Everything we did positive is based on playing solid defense."

North Side coach Shemon Reaves said that his players lost their "mental capacity" in the second half.
"We lost our focus on the concept of what we came here to do. We got away from being aggressive and taking the ball to the hole in the first and second quarters. We were able to rebound but couldn't find players to block out."

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