nly did Class 2A No. 3 Sand Rock push its record to 15-0 with a Cherokee County Invitational Tournament championship game victory on Dec. 23, but the Lady ‘Cats win came at the expense of Class 1A No. 1 Spring Garden.
The star of the the night didn’t even enter into the scorebook.
Lady Wildcat junior reserve guard Chelsi Oliver held All-State guard Paige Anderson, who averaged 26.6 points in the three games prior to the title contest, to eight points in Sand Rock’s 55-43 win.
Oliver limited Anderson to just two points and zero points from the field in the second half.
“Chelsi just did a tremendous job,” said Sand Rock head coach Lisa Bates. “Chelsi doesn’t score a lot of points, but she really does a great job defensively. We really turned it up in the fourth quarter, and Amy [Crane] had a spurt of energy that we needed late in the game with some steals. It’s a big win against a good team, which is something that we needed at this point.
Trailing by five points at halftime, the hosts rallied to tie the score at 37-37 after three quarters.
Kristin Brown’s only point of the night was a significant one, as her foul shot 19 seconds into the fourth period provided the Lady Wildcats a lead that they did not relinquish.
After Bridget Parris’ basket at 7:02 drew the Lady Panthers within 40-39, the visitors managed just two free throws and a field goal the rest of the way.
At the other end of the court, Crane’s steal and lay-up at 6:23 started a game-clinching 11-4 run, and Angelique Kordich and Taylor Burt went a combined 4-for-4 at the free throw line over the final 44 seconds secure the win.
Kordich Sand Rock with 15 points, followed by Burt with 14 and Crane with 13.
Ashley Beck pulled down eight rebounds, while Burt and Kordich each grabbed six.
Burt handed out seven assists, while Crane came up with four steals.
Burt and Kordich each shot 83 percent (5-for-6) at the foul line, while Crane shot 70 percent (7-for-10) from the field.
Whitney Mobley scored 20 points for Spring Garden.
Spring Garden came out of the first quarter ahead 17-15.
Hannah Hutcheson’s three-point basket pushed the Lady Panther advantage to 26-19 with 2:22 left in the first half, but a basket by Jenny Casey and a free throw from Burt cut Sand Rock’s deficit to 27-22 after 16 minutes.
Kordich’s eight straight points to start the second half kept the hosts within striking distance at 33-30.
Mobley’s two free throws at 1:17 of the third period made it a 37-35 Spring Garden lead, but Crane’s basket with 12 seconds left evened up the scoreboard heading into the final frame.
The hosts then finished off the game with an 18-6 run that gave the Lady Wildcats the first place trophy and valuable momentum heading into two straight region games this week.
“I’ll take a 15-0 record any day, but I do think that we haven’t played our best basketball yet,” said Bates. “We’ve beaten some good teams, but our best is yet to come. This was a total team effort, and I really enjoy coaching this group of girls.”
SAND ROCK (55): Kordich 15, Burt 14, Crane 13, Beck 8, Casey 4, Brown 1.
SPRING GARDEN (43): Mobley 20, Anderson 8, Hutcheson 7, Painter 4, Parris 4
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