swilson@vicksburgpost.com
The scoreboard seemed frozen in time as well. Cathedral led at the half 13-12. St. Al went nearly 10 minutes at one point without a field goal and the two teams didn't cross the combined 40-point threshold until the fourth quarter.
But Cathedral scrapped together a late 8-1 run in the final l:09 to earn a 34-28 Division 7-1A win.
After being down most of the contest, St. Al finally grabbed the lead with 2:17 remaining. Ann Garrison Thomas, who finished with a game-height 18 points, scored in transition on a layup and hit a short jumper in the lane to give St. Al its first lead of the second half.
But from there, it was all Natchez. Auka Kumi converted a putback in traffic, but couldn't convert a plus one opportunity. Crystal Beckwith and Kumi scored on layups and Taylor Beesley finished the run by converting two at the free-throw line.
"We were missing layup after layup after layup." Cathedral coach Randy Smith said, "Then we finally hit three in a row and it actually put us up where we could relax and play half-court man (defense.) I was happy with our girls' effort on defense. That's what won this game."
St. Al (6-8, 1-2) had its chances, as Thomas hit converted the front end of a bonus opportunity and Klaire Miller had a steal, but missed a breakaway layup with Cathedral leading 32-28.
The seeds of St. Al's demise were planted at the charity stripe, as the Lady Flashes went 6-for-18 in the second half.
"I don't think they were mentally prepared to beat Cathedral today," St. Al coach Cookie Johnson said. "We were down four when I realized we had missed 12 free throws. You have to have these to win a tight game like this."
Cathedral led at the end of one, 8-6, and at the break, 13-12. Thomas hit a one-and-one opportunity to give the Lady Flashes a brief 14-13 lead that would be their last one before the final two minutes.
Beesley led Cathedral (5-11, 1-0) with 10 points, while Kumi added nine.
2 comments:
Thank you to the young ladies of the Blue Streaks for showing up to see the younger ladies of St. Als' play in the retro uniforms! Hope y'all enjoyed your event. We need to get those buttons and a white stripe on those shorts before next year's game! My team (St. Pius X, where I work in ABQ)wants to make the trip to play the Blue Streaks next year. More insurance that I won't miss it this time. Thanks again Myrtle, Mrs. Brown and Co., plus the St. Aloysius administration for their support of this project of great memories and financial aid for our young people.
God Bless the Blue Streaks!
Jeff Turcotte
Jeff - I wished I could have been there and had planned to come and bring Ina but got sick. Wanted to take pictures to post of the event. If you have any to share would be more than happy to put them on our blog. Just email me at - mariandeerhunter@bellsouth.net
Hope to hear from you soon.
Marian Love Phillips (Class of 1959)
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