6A SW GIRLS FINAL: Park Crossing headed to Birmingham with win over Carver
The Park Crossing Lady Thunderbirds are headed to Birmingham after the win over Carver in the Southwest Region final at the Cramton Bowl Mutiplex on Monday. (Graham Dunn)
By GRAHAM DUNN
Park Crossing’s Lady Thunderbirds will make their first trip to the AHSAA State Finals next week.
For the entire team, it will be a culmination of winning that started back in the eighth grade at Johnnie Carr Middle School.
The Lady Birds held off a couple of rallies to defeat G.W. Carver, 46-39, in the finals of the girls Class 6A Southwest Regionals at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex on Monday.
The win was their 30th of the year and puts them in the state semifinals to face Mortimer Jordan or Hazel Green on March 2 at the BJCC Arena.
“It’s been a long time coming,” stated PCHS guard Alexis Andrews. “I’m proud of my teammates, but we aren’t satisfied . We have a couple more to win.”
“All have won a middle school championship so they understand what it takes,” coach Freeah Smith said. “We just fine tune it some and let them play.”
Andrews was selected as the tournament MVP but it was Kelsie Thomas who did most of the damage for the Lady Birds (30-4) on Monday, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds. She was 10-of-16 from the field and took up the slack while Andrews had some difficulties finding her range.
Andrews was just 1 of 11 and missed all six 3-point attempts in the first half before heating up in the second to finish with 13 points.
“They had a game plan,” Smith said of Carver. “(Andrews) was trying too hard. She didn’t let the game come to her. But she does so many other things, controlling tempo, putting everyone in the right place. I would rather she score 30 but it worked out.”
“It was frustrating a little bit but I knew I couldn’t be that way,” Andrews said. “I kept trying to motivate my teammates and keep them going. Elsie did it all. I was saying, ‘go, go, go’ everytime she got the ball.”
After leading by 11 points, taking a 12-1 lead in the first four minutes of the game, the Lady Birds found themselves in a tie game at the break, 23-23, usually behind the efforts of center Takya Norman, who had 12 points at the break.
Carver had several opportunities to take their first lead early in the third period but Park Crossing pulled away and built back the lead to 10 points with 3:30 left in the period.
“That’s the way they have played a year… we don’t have a lot of depth, so we may have run out of gas,” stated Carver interim coach Dennis McKenney. “(We don’t have) subs…. There is a big drop off. In a game this magnitude it shows up. Give Park Crossing credit. They don’t play a lot (of players) either and still managed to do what they do.”
The Lady Wolverines (15-8) managed to get within five with under a minute to play in the game but were unable to convert a couple of 3-point tries and suffered turnovers that decided their fate.
Norman led Carver with 18 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, despite playing most of the second half in foul trouble. Erin Perry added nine points and nine rebounds.
Smith will attempt to keep workouts normal as they prepare for next week. Their trip to Birmingham will be also a valuable lesson for her team, no matter the outcome.
“We will watch film and do what we normally do,” she said. “I don’t want them to get too hyped up but we look forward to this experience.”
More than likely Carver will be looking for a new girls’ coach. McKenney took the job just one week prior to the start of the season. He has been in the Carver system for more than three decades but wasn’t sure he would continue.
“We went with what we could,” he said. “I didn’t know the system they were running so we tried to adjust. It’s been a good experience. All of these players are back.”
As for coming back… “I’ll do what my wife wants me to.”