Hoisting the North championship trophy are (from left) Bryanna Miller, Alexis McGreger and Hailey McMinn.
Photos by Penny Lomenick
Alexis McGreger releases a shot from the corner versus Oak Hill.
Erin Lomenick (right) dives for a loose basketball versus Carroll.
Twice as nice
They say defense wins championships and the proof was in the pudding Saturday for the Marshall Academy Lady Patriots.
The MA girls smothered Carroll Academy 36-20 for the North AA Basketball Tournament championship.
“Defense is what it is all about, and defense was absolutely the key to winning today,” said head coach Michael Clifton after the victory celebration at Delta Academy in Marks.
“Our girls played inspired basketball. They really wanted this one. They felt like they had something to prove (after a three-overtime loss to the Lady Rebels in last year’s state tourney).”
The Lady Patriots led 8-4 after one quarter last Saturday afternoon. Then Blake Martin started the second with back-to-back threes to make it a 10-point lead.
MA was up 16-10 at intermission.
The Lady Patriots’ defensive effort, solid in the first half, only got better in the third. They held Carroll scoreless in that quarter and went up 26-10.
The closest the Lady Rebels got in the fourth was 14.
Martin led the way with 13 points. Julia Nicholson had 10.
Semi-finals
The Lady Pats knocked off defending state champion Oak Hill for the third time this season in the district tourney semi-finals.
Martin’s 20 points led MA to a 48-38 win Friday evening in Marks.
Martin and Alexis McGreger provided some first-quarter spark. Martin hit a pair of threes and McGreger scored eight straight points. Marshall led 20-15 after the initial frame.
The Lady Raiders trimmed their deficit to 26-23 at the half.
In the third, Bryanna Miller drilled a couple of threes and MA went up double digits, 34-23. Nicholson’s two-point bucket and free throw made it 37-23.
MA led by as many as 17 in the fourth before winning by 10.
Nicholson and Miller added nine points each.
Round One
The Lady Pats lit up the scoreboard with threes in the first half, building a 38-6 lead en route to a 53-24 win over Columbus Christian on February 14.
McGreger, Martin and Miller started the “three show” in the opening quarter and then Erin Lomenick, Miller and Martin closed the second period with each hitting a long-range shot.
The Lady Pats coasted to the 29-point win.
Martin led the way with 14 points, while McGreger and Miller scored nine each.
State next
The MA girls (28-7) open play in the Class AA State Basketball Tournament on Wednesday of this week at 6:30 p.m. on the campus of Winona Christian. They will face Tallulah Academy.
With a win, they advance to the semi-finals Friday at 2:15 p.m. The girls consolation and championship games are Saturday at 1 p.m. and 2:15, respectively.
The top three finishers move on to the Overall Tournament next week at Mississippi College in Clinton.