Washington leads East All Stars to win
Published 11:28 pm Friday, February 27, 2009
MONTGOMERY — Despite an early run that offered hope following a slow start, the AISA West All-Stars could not maintain their momentum, falling to the East All-Stars 65-59.
The East rushed out to a 13-7 lead on the strength of two 3-pointers from East MVP Jessica Washington. She finished with 20 points on the night to lead the East’s offensive.
However, as it appeared the West offense’s sputtering would not cease, Morgan’s Sarah Hughey hit a 3-pointer off the bench, sparking an 11-0 run that put the West ahead 18-13 with 5:34 left in the half.
“It was a good three,” said Central Christian and West team coach Darrell Walker. “She came off the bench and did what we asked her to do.”
AISA East answered with an 11-3 run to retake the lead at 24-21, and carried a 24-22 lead into the intermission. The East team did most of its damage at the free throw line, while the West team struggled for most of the contest.
Following their earlier run, the West team went 2-for-12 from the charity stripe as the East built its lead.
“Free throws were a big part of our loss,” said Central Christian’s Tiffany Brown.
Free throws didn’t enter the picture in the early portion of the second half, though. The East outscored the West 9-3 early in the third to increase its advantage to 33-25.
But Hughey managed to spark another run for the West. She hit a layup that led to a 13-3 run capped by a BreAnna Pate layup to give the West its first lead since the 42-second mark of the first half.
Lowndes Academy’s Jordan Insinga earned West MVP. She finished with five points in the game.
Brown scored six points, Hughey chipped in five and Insinga’s teammate at Lowndes, Kayla Mason, finished with two.