| Rebounding effort advances Westview |
By: Stephanie Sturgis - Weakley County Press Sports Editor
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Posted: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 5:26 pm
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A jump to the left — Westview’s Jacey Sims (right) drives against Liberty’s Rhaven Kemp while Lady Charger head coach Sean Stephenson (rear, left) watches in their 46-40 Region 7-AA quarterfinal win on Friday night in Martin. Photo by Stephanie S
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In a must-win game, the Westview Lady Chargers worked hard on the boards in the final two quarters and used that effort to hold the visiting Liberty Lady Crusaders at bay to win 46-40 in the Region 7-AA quarterfinals Friday night in Martin.
“We committed to rebounding in the second half. It was more of a team rebounding effort — five on three,” WHS head coach Sean Stephenson asserted.
Liberty used its size advantage to snag offensive rebounds and score its first four baskets and led 10-6 in the opening quarter. Westview’s Amber Rechis drove in and hit a 5-footer and teammate Megan Ables scored her second basket of the game on a stickback with seven seconds left in the quarter for a 10-all tie.
Westview nabbed an 18-14 lead on consecutive treys by Jacey Sims and Rechis. The score was tied twice in the second frame before two Grace Ann Swaim free throws gave Westview a 22-21 halftime advantage.
Out of the break, Liberty’s Ann Jones gave her team a lead with a layup, but Grace Ann Swaim scored five straight to put the Lady Chargers in front for good. Taylor Swaim’s steal and layup just before the buzzer at the end of the third stretched the gap to seven at 31-24. Taylor Swaim made a return to action after sitting out the District 13-AA championship game with a knee injury.
“We didn’t know what she could do, but she came up big,” Stephenson said of the younger Swaim’s play.
The Lady Chargers benefitted from mirror-image 3-pointers by Rechis — one from the right wing and one from the left — to stretch their lead to 10 at 37-27 with six minutes to play.
Consecutive WHS turnovers and a trey by Rhaven Kemp contributed to an 8-1 run that sliced the Lady Chargers’ lead to three, 38-35, with 2:17 to play.
From there, WHS was 6-of-6 at the charity stripe and broke the press for a Sara Olds layup, fending off Liberty’s rally to win, 46-40.
“Tonight, we got our most contributions from our bench. Brittany McClanahan played great defense and Ables had big points for us in the first quarter,” Stephenson noted.
Region 7-AA Tournament
Quarterfinal
Feb. 26 at Martin
GIRLS
Liberty (40) — Jasmine Morgan 13, Raquel Miller 10, Ann Jones 10, Rhaven Kemp 4, Jasmine Luster 3.
Westview (46) — Amber Rechis 17, Grace Ann Swaim 8, Jacey Sims 7, Sara Olds 6, Megan Ables 4, Taylor Swaim 2, Breanna Pitcher 2.
3-pointers: Liberty — Kemp, Luster; Westview — Rechis (3), Pitcher, Sims.
Records: Liberty 18-7, Westview 24-7.
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