SOUTHEAST 3A REGIONAL: Pike Road girls make easy work of Straughn; MA tops Geneva

By GRAHAM DUNN

The Pike Road girls had been accustomed to playing without their coach, Courtney Ward, who has been out of commission and unable to be on the sideline due to medical bed rest.

On Saturday, when she walked to the bench shortly before the Patriots tipped off against Straughn, it gave the team an unexpected lift.

It might be hard to tell if they needed it but the Patriots had little trouble with the Lady Tigers in a 51-24 win in the Class 3A Southeast Regional semifinals at Garrett Coliseum.

“I knew she was coming but didn’t tell the team,” acting bench coach Quawon Baldwin said. “It really gave us a lift. But we’ve been practicing without her. It was hard to keep her from standing up but she was coaching.”

The Patriots led by double digits by the three-minute mark of the first quarter and never looked back to earn a second-straight trip to the regional final. They will face area rival Montgomery Academy on Wednesday.

Saturday’s win was never in doubt. Pike Road shot 38 percent but made the most of Straughn’s 28 turnovers.

“We like to play hard-nose defense and try to play off steals. We were active and made things happen,” Baldwin said.

Pike Road had just two players in double figures with both Sheira Clement and Tamirea Thomas scoring 11 points apiece. But a total of nine Patriots scored in the game. They also recorded 22 steals and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.

The stage is now set for the rematch of last year’s regional final and it will be the fourth meeting between MA and the Patriots this season.

“Everybody knows each other by name. We told them last time, we’d see them again,” Baldwin said. “We were here last year but it’s about having the mindset to make it farther. One game to get to Birmingham and three more for a championship.”

Action from the Class 3A Southeast Regional semifinal featuring Montgomery Academy and Geneva at Garrett Coliseum. (By Art Parker)

 MA overcomes slow start to top Geneva

Montgomery Academy shot less than 20 percent in the first half but still had plenty of room for error in a 54-42 win over Geneva in the Class 3A Girls Southeast Regional semifinal at Garrett Coliseum on Saturday.

The Eagles led only 10 minutes in the game but Leighton Robertson sent  the first to wake up call for the Eagles when she recorded one of her six steals and dashed coast to coast for an easy lay up to tie the game for the first time at 7:18 in the third period.

“We were lazy and we had a slow start. We couldn’t limit them to one shot. We got plenty of shots and they just didn’t fall,” MA coach Barry Fencher said.

Later, Gabby Ramirez drained one of her five 3-pointers to give MA the lead 33-32. Ramirez scored all of her 15 points from beyond the arc. 

“The shots started falling for me. I haven’t had many opportunities lately because the way defenses have played us. It felt real good to see those shots fall,” Ramirez said. “We talked about it the other day. When one of us makes a big shot then things start to happen. That’s what happened today.”

MA doubled its point production in the second half  with Madi Caddell leading the way with six rebounds and a trio of steals. She led the Eagles with 23 points including four 3-pointers.

“I think we were just not patient in the first half. We just didn’t play smart,” Caddell said. “In the second half we were patient and we started to swing the ball around and take the good shots.” 

MA scored 21 points off of Geneva’s 21 turnovers and 16 points on second chances with a big majority of this production coming in the second half.

Robertson had with seven rebounds and four assists for the Eagles. Anaya Thomas gathered six rebounds and four assists.

By Art Parker