The Lady Warriors overcame an ice-cold shooting performance by forcing numerous Midway turnovers as the Webbers Falls girls romped to a 58-34 victory Thursday night at Cardinal Fieldhouse.
Webbers Falls used its full-court press to break the game open in the second quarter. A 16-0 spurt allowed the Lady Warriors to climb out of a theee-point hole and grab a 25-12 lead. They never trailed again while eliminating the Lady Chargers from the playoffs.
The victory improved Webbers Falls' record to 12-7 and sends the Lady Warriors into Saturday night's district championship game against Boynton, which defeated Braggs in Thursday night's other matchup.
Webbers Falls head coach Sean Dandridge was pleased with his team's effort, but thought nerves and the tight rims at Boynton's new gym kept his players from shooting better. Webbers Falls was just 15-of-56 (26.7 percent) from the floor during the opening three quarters.
"We played pretty hard. We had all kinds of shots in the first three quarters, but they just would not fall," said Dandridge. "These goals being new and the rims being tight, we weren't really used to them. We had decent shots-they just didn't fall. We were probably kind of hyped up with it being the first game of districts, but we finally started getting our rhythm and getting our stroke down there in the fourth quarter."
The Lady Warriors led by 13 at the start of the fourth quarter and clinched the victory by hitting 10-of-14 shots over the final eight minutes. Junior forward Ali Morton scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the final period and also finished with a game-best 11 rebounds. Senior guard Sara Little-Masterson added 15 points and seven rebounds and senior center Charlette Hasting had 14 points and five boards. Twyla McLaughlin and Nicole Turley rounded out the Webbers Falls scoring with seven and three points, respectively.
Midway took an early lead on Thursday and led thoughout most of the first quarter. Little-Masterson had an assist and a basket late in the period to pull Webbers Falls even at 9-9 entering the second.
Tasha Sparks nailed the first of her three three-point baskets for Midway to give the Lady Chargers their final lead of the night at 12-9. They managed just two more shots over the final seven minutes of the half, turning the ball over repeatedly against the Webbers Falls press. Morton had seven points and Hasting four during the 16-0 run as the Lady Warriors took control. Little-Masterson scored off a pass from McLaughlin to give Webbers Falls a 27-13 halftime advantage.
Dandridge credited the pressure defense for turning the game around.
"That's the key for us-running that press and getting steals. That's a big part of our game," he said. "When we're not shooting well, we can normally play good enough defense on that press to get some easy shots."
Webbers Falls stretched its lead to 18 half way through the third quarter on Hasting's putback. A three-point basket from Sparks pulled the Lady Chargers within 12 early in the fourth quarter, but they could get no closer.
Morton sank five shots from inside the lane to help the Lady Warriors pull away and Webbers Falls harassed Midway into 3-of-14 shooting during the fourth quarter.
Josey Armstrong was the top scorer for Midway with 11 points. Sparks scored all nine of her points from three-point range and Melesa White chipped in seven points for the Lady Chargers (6-15).
Webbers Falls' victory was its third in three games this season against Midway, the newest member of the Riverside Athletic Conference. The Lady Warriors defeated Midway by 17 and 30 points in their two league matchups, but Dandridge said he wasn't worried about a possible let-down on Thursday.
"I was concerned a little bit about tempers flaring,because the last game was a little heated," said Dandridge. "I was a little concerned about that, but there was great sportsmanship on both sides."
In the other first-round game on Thursday, four girls scored in double figures for Boynton in a 73-48 blowout of Braggs. Ashlee Shipp paced the Lady Cardinals with 19 points, Shereca Lang added 14, Aisha Lang 13 and Brittnay Lang 12.
Saturday night's championship game will be a rematch of the teams' first-round clash at the Connors tournament in December. Webbers Falls jumped out to a 25-point lead in that game and held on for a 60-44 victory.
