GIRLS 3A SEMIS: St. James holds off late charge to advance to title game

Kaitlin Mitchell goes for the steal from Sarah Graham from Sylvania in St. James’ win in the Class 3A semis at Legacy Arena on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

BIRMINGHAM -- St. James watched a comfortable lead dissipate in the second quarter as Sylvania quickly chipped away at the lead.

The Trojans jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Rams in the 3A semifinals of the Alabama High School Athletic Association state basketball tournament at Legacy Arena on Tuesday. Then, in a matter of minutes, the lead was gone. A 3-pointer by Avery Jenkins gave Sylvania a 23-22 lead late in the first half.

“That’s a great team and a great group of athletes,” Sylvania coach Alaina Welden said. “When we took that lead, I think that lit a fire in them. They answered. It was impressive.”

St. James responded by scoring the last 11 points of the first half and five of the first eight in the third quarter to pull away to a 63-44 victory over the Rams. St. James (34-2) will play for the 3A state championship on Friday against Lauderdale County (34-1) at 12:30 p.m.

“We’re excited about it,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “This is the time of year that you want to play the best team. We know, or I do, what their background is and the type of basketball they play at Lauderdale County.”

The Trojans were impressive early -- and late -- but struggled to make open shots, even in the paint, in the second quarter, allowing the Rams to cut a 12-point deficit to a basket in less than six minutes, setting the stage for Jenkins’ 3-pointer to give Sylvania its only lead of the game.

“I think we were playing a little bit complacent there,” Barton said. “I felt as if we were almost trying to do the right thing instead of reacting and playing the way we typically play. Once they settled down in the locker room (at halftime), we made a few defensive adjustments for the second half.”

The Trojans didn’t shoot the ball much better, but did tighten up their defense in holding the Rams to 31 percent from the field in the second half (4 of 13 shooting in each quarter).

“We ran a variety of defenses today,” Barton said, “but basically in the second half … we just ran a matchup 2-3 zone and stretched out and tried to put some hands in some faces and take away a few driving lanes.”

The Rams (18-14) shot 11 of their 14 first-quarter shots from behind the 3-point arc and stayed on the perimeter for much of the game, shooting 18 of their 26 shots from the 3-point line in the second half.

In the third quarter, the Trojans quickly extended the lead to 13 points and cruised to their 20th consecutive victory since losing to Class 7A Vestavia Hills on Dec. 20.

“We had to put a little ball pressure on the ball defensively,”said St. James guard Natalie Barton, “and we had to get our minds right on defense. We were kind of playing fast, at their pace.”

Morgan Lilly led the Trojans with 17 points and six assists, followed by Jordyn McRae with 13 points, 14 rebounds and three assists and Natalie Barton with 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Kaitlin Mitchell added 10 points and five rebounds as the Trojans won the rebounding battle 41-29. 

Meridith Jackson led Sylvania with 15 points, followed by Jaidyn Ashley with 12.