Sacred Heart presses on
- Updated: February 2, 2015
Girls roundup: Lady Cardinals plug in press for tournament win; White Plains rallies, Anniston wins
By East Alabama Sports Today
ONEONTA – The motivation of going miles away to play a nearby team and the installation of a new 1-3-1 press carried Sacred Heart to a 50-38 win over Donoho in the Class 1A Area 12 play-in game Monday night.
The Lady Cardinals (2-13) will play top-seeded Appalachian at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Faith Christian plays second-seeded Ragland in the 5 p.m. game. The two winners will play for the area championship Friday and advance to the sub-regional.
The first three trips up the floor, the Lady Cards set up in a 2-3. From there, first-year coach Marquita McMurray plugged in the 1-3-1, and stayed in it the rest of the game.
“We never pressed before,” McMurray said. “Tonight was our first night and it was a key factor. They pressed us, which made us fold, the last time we played them. We pressed them because Zainab (Sanusi) is very quick at the top of the key. It was a big factor tonight.”
Sacred Heart jumped out to a 16-11 lead, but Donoho closed to within 22-21 at halftime. The 1-3-1 worked really well for the Cardinals in the third quarter. Sanusi turned several turnovers into baskets and Sacred Heart was up 35-26 going into the fourth quarter.
“The first quarter they did great on defense, then kind of slacked up in the second,” McMurray said. “I said we worked so hard to get a lead, it doesn’t make sense to (let have them get back in it).”
The schools are only separated by a couple miles in Anniston, but had to travel all the way to Appalachian because of the tournament alignment. The Cardinals did all they could not to make it a wasted trip.
“It was our motivation most of all,” McMurray said. “We tried to get the game close by, but it just didn’t happen. I told the girls if we lose that’s it, but if we win, we keep going.”
Zanusi led all scorers with 17 points. Jerece Tillery returned from missing the final regular-season game with an injury to score 14 points and Anna Kerper had 10. Kerper didn’t hit a 3-pointer as she did in the season finale, but she did beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter.
Anna Marie Woodfin led Donoho with nine points. Camille Fink had six.
Anniston 67, Pelham 25
The Lady Bulldogs got back on the winning track by dominating the boards and putting four scorers scoring in double figures.
Raven Cooley scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three steals. Miajah Bullock had 13 points, six steals and two assists. Carsheuna Curry had 10 points, seven boards and three steals. And Kiayana Bullock had 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
The Bulldogs return to action 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when they host Lincoln in the first round of the Class 5A Area 12 tournament.
White Plains 43, Ranburne 34
RANBURNE – White Plains rallied from a one-point first quarter to win in its final game before the area tournament.
Amber Greenwood scored 11 of her 19 points in the second quarter as the Wildcats rallied from a 7-1 deficit to take a 17-13 halftime lead.
GIRLS BOX SCORE
White Plains 43, Ranburne 34
WHITE PLAINS — Rian Chandler 0 0-0 0, Carley Wood 3 0-0 6, Hannah Barno 1 0-0 3, Korie Burgess 2 0-0 4, Ann Katherine Dothard 0 3-4 3, Chasity Nelson 0 0-0 0, Amber Greenwood 7 1-4 19, Shelby Wood 1 6-10 8, Landry Bussey 0 0-0 0, Mary Clare Young 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Harris 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 10-18 43.
RANBURNE — Jesse Ralston 5 0-0 10, Hannah Phillips 3 0-2 6, Lacey Smith 2 0-0 5, Madison Smith 0 0-0 0, Hali Wilson 3 5-6 11, Elizabeth Riddle 0 0-0 0, Emily Hall 1 0-0 2, Marista Otwell 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-8 34.
White Plains 1 16 18 8 — 43
Ranburne 7 6 15 6 — 34
3-point goals: White Plains 5 (Barno, Greenwood 4); Ranburne 1 (L. Smith). Total fouls: White Plains 11, Ranburne 18. Fouled out: Wilson.
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