The Mount Vernon Lady Mountaineers buried Republic in an avalanche of jump shots during the first half of their Pink & White semifinal, then cruised to a 66-48 win and a berth in the championship game. Senior guard duo Cameron Call and Caitlin Hicks lit up the scoreboard for Mt. Vernon, combining for 23 points in the first quarter. The Lady Mountaineers led 28-10 after the first period.
The lead ballooned to 26 points by halftime, as Hicks and Call combined for 34 points. Republic struggled offensively, and no Republic player had more than a single field goal in the first half. The halftime score was 45-19.
“They hit a couple of shots and got off to a good start, and it’s like we kind of let down there,” said coach Kris Flood. “I don’t know whether it’s that we used up a lot of energy the first two days, then we were starting to hit the wall a little bit––then the Avalina injury–but we can’t dwell on it.We’re going to have to learn to get better.”
In the second half, Republic came out with renewed defensive intensity and cut into Mt. Vernon’s lead, but it was too little, too late. The Lady Tigers outscored Mt. Vernon in the third quarter 14-10, and again in the fourth quarter, 15-11.
“That first quarter did us in, basically,” said Flood. “And they’re too good a team to try and fight back. They’ve got really good guards that can handle it, so it’s hard to press them. And they really had some kids step up.”
Republic falls to 5-4. The Lady Tigers play for third place at 4:00 Saturday at O’Reilly Family Event Center.
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Farr Better Player of the Game
After getting hit with a first-half barrage of points, the Lady Tigers settled down in the second half, and Jazzy Kirby led the way. Kirby made four three-pointers and finished with a team-high 14 points, and she was our Farr Better Player of the Game.
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