E.A. Sports Today

D is in the Cards

Sacred Heart’s girls spent all off-season tightening their defense and it shows in the results; Anniston beats Shelby County

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Sacred Heart enjoyed an historic girls basketball season a year ago, but if there was one thing coach Marcus Harrell would fix from that year it’d be his team’s defense.
 
The Lady Cardinals got all the way to the Class 2A regionals and scored 69 in the regional semifinals. That would normally be good enough to win, but they gave up 75 and had their season come to an end.
 
Guess what they’ve been focusing on all off season?
 
The Lady Cards put their defensive commitment on display Tuesday night and held visiting Gaston to less than a dozen points in a 77-11 area victory. They’ve given up only 36 points in their first two games.
 
“We’ve been preaching defense all off season,” Harrell said. “We came out and ran a lot of different stuff and the girls executed very well. We’re a little undersized, but they boxed out very well, so the effort is right where we want it.”
 
The Lady Cards held Gaston to one point in the first quarter (while opening a 22-1 lead) and only two field goals in the game – both in the second half. The Lady Bulldogs’ first bucket came on a driving layup three minutes into the third quarter and the second came on a third putback midway through the fourth.
 
“We lost one player last year and she was a great scorer for us,” Harrell said. “We knew we had some offensive firepower coming back. The whole thing this off season has been defense and rebounding. 
 
“We knew we were going to be undersized. Every time we line up we’re probably going to be the shortest team, but that doesn’t mean we can’t defend well and that doesn’t mean we can’t rebound. Defense, defense, defense; that’s what we’re preaching right now.”
 
That defensive effort produced a lot of offense, too. Eighth-grader Serena Hardy led the charge with 19 points, backing up a 26-point night she had against Cornerstone in the season-opener. Myiah Harris (16), Cearia Jenkins (10) and Taysia West (11) also scored in double figures for Sacred Heart.
 
“I think we’re growing up some; we still played seventh- and eighth-graders tonight,” Harrell said. “You can tell there’s a big difference, especially from Serena Hardy, from where she was as a seventh grader last year.
 
“We feel like the game is slowing down for some of them just a little bit, so that helps us a lot defensively. As long as the effort’s there and the game continues to slow down we should be OK.”
 
Anniston 63, Shelby County 54
 
COLUMBIANA –
Kiana Montgomery scored 23 points and Asia Barclay and Allasha Dudley both put together double-doubles to power Anniston to its second win of the season.
 
Barclay had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Dudley had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Dudley also had five assists.
 
Montgomery scored nine points in the second quarter as the Lady Bulldogs pulled away from a two-point game to take a nine-point halftime lead, then combined with Barclay for 23 in the second half to maintain that margin.
 
GIRLS BOX SCORES
Sacred Heart 77, Gaston 11
GASTON (0-2) –
Makiyah Underwood 1 3-8 5, Alexis Underwood 0 0-3 0, Tamera Foster 0 2-4 2, Emma Parker 1 0-0 2, Lily Lewis 0 0-0 0, Olivia Lowrey 0 1-2 1, Indya Price 0 1-3 1, Alyssa Gargus 0 0-0 0. Totals 2 7-20 11.
 
SACRED HEART (2-0) – Jayda Fomby 3 0-0 8, Alisia Person 0 1-2 1, Myiah Harris 6 2-2 16, Cearia Jenkins 3 2-4 10, Joelle Tillery 1 1-3 7, Jordan Sabree 1 1-2 3, Amiyiah Buchan 1 0-0 2, Serena Hardy 8 0-0 19, Taysia West 4 2-4 11, Alyssa Bell 1 0-0 3. Totals 28 9-17 77.
 
Gaston               1          4          2          4          –          11
Sacred Heart   22        27        18        10        –          77
3-point goals: Sacred Heart 12 (Fomby 2, Harris 2, Jenkins 2, Tillery, Hardy 3, West, Bell). Fouled out: Tillery. Total fouls: Gaston 9, Sacred Heart 18. Officials: Guyton, Stringer, Askew.
 
Anniston 63, Shelby County 54
ANNISTON (2-0) –
Allahsa Dudley 3 4-4 10, Ladajah Williams 1 0-0 2, Anna Garrett 3 0-0 7, Charliese Simmons 0 0-0 0, Shiwanna Jackson 0 0-0 0, Aaliyah Henson 0 0-0 0, Tiauna Thomas 0 0-0 0, Airriana Colley 1 0-0 3, Kiana Montgomery 11 1-2 23, Keyahra Williams 0 0-2 0, Asia Barclay 7 4-5 18, Tanaja Winsley 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 9-13 63.
 
SHELBY COUNTY (0-1) – Aaliyah Cotton 1 0-0 3, Malise Lilly 0 0-0 0, Nateley Whitner 4 5-6 13, Ava Nettles 0 0-0 0, Maggie West 8 1-2 20, Skye Lilly 3 7-9 14, Pevi Clark 1 0-0 2, Haley Ruiz-Hope 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 13-17 54.
 
Anniston          11         21        17        14        –          63
Shelby County 9          14        14        17        –          54
3-point goals: Anniston 2 (Garrett, Colley); Shelby County 5 (Cotton, West 3, S. Lilly). Total fouls: Anniston 18, Shelby County 10. 

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