Anna Murdock finished with a game-high 17 points, Leianna Currie scored 16 points and No. 3-seeded Sylvania advanced to the varsity girls championship in the DeKalb County Tournament, beating No. 2-seeded Ider 55-30 at DeKalb County Schools Coliseum in Rainsville on Thursday night.
Sylvania plays top-seeded Plainview for the DCT varsity girls title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at DeKalb County Schools Coliseum.
The Rams restricted Ider to four points in the second quarter to gain separation. Leading 17-10 at the start of the period, Currie sank two free throws, Kirby Wisner scored in the paint and Murdock added a layup to push the advantage to 27-11, before Ider’s Kennzie Smith (16 points) connected on a buzzer-beating 3-point basket to narrow the gap to 27-14 at intermission.
Currie produced six of Sylvania’s 12 third-quarter points, making a 3-pointer, a layup and a free throw across the period. Allie Pruett sank a 3 and Smith scored a layup and added a pair of foul shots for the Hornets, who trailed 39-25 by quarter’s end.
The Rams outscored Ider 16-5 in the fourth quarter, preventing any rally with strong defense and good free-throw shooting. Currie went 3 of 4 from the foul line, as the Rams wrapped the final frame with an 8-of-11 shooting effort from the free-throw line.
Addisyn Heard chipped in five points for the Hornets. Point guard Makinley Traylor didn’t dress for the game, but mingled with and encouraged her teammates from the bench.
In the early stages of the game, Murdock and Currie scored a layup apiece for Sylvania, while Smith made a 3-pointer and a layup and Cambree Chapman scored a putback layup for the Hornets.
Ambriel Stopyak added a layup with 5 minutes remaining in the opening quarter to give the Rams the lead for good at 7-5.
Plainview 78, Geraldine 39 —
Sawyer Hulgan cashed in four 3-point baskets and tallied a game-high 18 points, leading four Plainview girls in double-figure scoring in a victorious DCT semifinal-round game Thursday night.
Gracie Rowell finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds for the top-seeded Bears. Lauren Jimmerson scored 12 points, Graidin Haas added 11 points and five rebounds, Ali Price dished out six assists and Saydi Jackson collected five rebounds.
Lili Ramirez scored 12 points for the four-seeded Bulldogs and Hallie Burns contributed 10 points.
Geraldine did well to keep the score tight in the first quarter. Sara Smith hit a 3-pointer from the wing to lift the Bulldogs into a 15-13 lead with 1:08 remaining in the period, before layups by Jimmerson and Rowell, respectively, propelled Plainview back into the lead for good at 17-15 to close the frame. Kaley Brock sank a jump-hook and Ramirez swished a 3-pointer and scored a layup across the opening quarter for Geraldine.
Plainview created a scoring gap in the second quarter by tightening its defense and scoring baskets off turnovers.
Jimmerson assisted Rowell with a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 22-16 advantage with 6:35 to play in the half, before Rowell dished to Hulgan for a 3 off a turnover and Price collected a turnover and assisted Jackson with a fast-break layup to force Geraldine head coach Jamie Gilbert to call timeout with 5:03 remaining.
Another Jackson layup gave the Bears a 10-point cushion with 4:20 to go. Rowell cashed in a fast-break layup off another turnover and Price assisted Hulgan with a 3-pointer to extend it to a 13-point game with 3 minutes left.
Kaleigh Butler made a layup to end a 0-4 scoring drought, ahead of Smith assisting Burns with a 3-pointer to provide additional relief and keep the halftime deficit at 38-24.
But Plainview’s scoring capability was too much to overcome, as the Bears extended the game to a 59-29 advantage by the end of the third period.
The Bears forced 18 turnovers while committing just two, and outrebounding Geraldine 35-22.
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