‘Sloppy’ Saints hang on for win
Published 11:54 pm Friday, November 28, 2014
Selma’s J’Tia White, center, battles for position with Montevallo’s Amilyia Farrington, left, and Emri Hannah, right, as they watch a free throw attempt. –Daniel Evans
It wasn’t pretty, but Selma held off hard charging Montevallo for a 53-48 victory Friday night in the first round of the Selma High School Thanksgiving Shootout.
The Lady Saints nearly squandered away a 17-point fourth quarter lead but made enough free throws down the stretch to advance to Saturday’s championship game against Quitman, out of Mississippi.
“We were real sloppy,” Selma head coach Anthony Harris said. “It wasn’t even the layoff. We just didn’t have that rhythm tonight.”
Behind pressure defense leading to easy baskets and a big night from Jamya Smith, the Saints built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. When Kierra Armstead’s steal led to an early fastbreak layup for the first points of the final quarter, Selma led 44-27, and the Lady Saints looked on their way to a fourth consecutive win.
Montevallo didn’t let them off the hook that easy.
The Bulldogs started chipping away at that point, with five quick points from Alasha Reed cutting the lead to 46-34.
Montevallo cut the lead to 48-42 with under two minutes to play, but Areyana Williams’ layup off of a missed J’Tia White shot gave the Saints added cushion and just enough to hang on for their fourth straight win.
Outside of the end of each half, Selma was fairly dominant in the game. To go along with the poor finish to the second half, the Lady Saints were outscored 10-4 in the final two minutes of the first half. Selma led 12-9 after the first quarter and 26-21 at halftime.
“They didn’t play with that desire,” Harris said. “We just happened to win.”
The Lady Saints gave up just five points in the third quarter, easily their best period of the night. Smith hit two of her four three-pointers in the third, helping Selma build a 44-27 lead.
Williams scored 13 points for the Saints, with nine of those coming in the first half.
Quitman 48, Keith 29
Mississippi-based Quitman pulled away from Keith’s Lady Bears Friday night in a 48-29 victory in the first round of the Selma High School Thanksgiving Shootout.
The Lady Bears will play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Montevallo in the third place game, while Quitman will take on Selma in the tournament championship. The girls title game will start around 5 p.m.
