Cherokee County's Tori Davis tries to get a shot off down low against Jacksonville on Thursday night.
It wasn’t easy, but behind a 19-point, 12-rebound performance from freshman Tori Davis, the Lady Warriors were able to outlast Jacksonville in double overtime, 66-62.
Senior Deidra Davis managed 16 points and freshman Chelsea Ray added 14 points in the victory.
With the win, Cherokee County (8-11) advances to Saturday’s area championship game at 5 p.m. The Lady Warriors will face Alexandria, a 47-39 winner over Hokes Bluff in the other Area 12 semifinal on Thursday.
“In past pressure situations, we haven’t played up to our potential, but games like tonight will go a long way,” Barnes said. “This is my fifth year here, and we’d lost in the first round of the area tournament until this year. It’s a big thing for this program and for these girls. It’s also a big thing to have home court against Alexandria.
“We’re excited to be in this position. Hopefully, we’ll play well and get our first area championship.”
Jacksonville’s Megan Snider had two big 3-pointers in a row in the third quarter that pushed the Lady Golden Eagles out to the six-point lead, but the Lady Warriors battled back and tied the game at 42 at the end of regulation.
Cherokee County went up by three points in the first overtime, but Jacksonville (11-10) connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 53 and force a second overtime.
However, Jacksonville had to play the remainder of the game without post player Sharon Osterbind. Osterbind, who gave the Lady Warriors trouble in the paint, fouled out in the first overtime. She finished with 11 points.
“When she fouled out, that allowed us to penetrate the middle more,” Barnes said. “Tori made some big buckets and free throws. She got a lot of her baskets off rebounds. Chelsea also had a couple of big 3-pointers that were big for us. They both really stepped up.”
Lacey Buchanon led all scorers with 30 points. Lakken Wood finished with 10 points and Snider had eight points for Jacksonville.
Sand Rock 45, Westbrook Christian 33
In the Class 2A, Area 12 tournament at Geraldine, Gena Farmer scored 17 points, had five steals and three rebounds to lead Sand Rock past Westbrook Christian 45-33 on Thursday.
Amber Henderson connected on four 3-poitners and finished with 15 points and three assists for the Lady Wildcats (16-12), who advance to meet Geraldine in the Area 12 championship on Saturday.
“You don’t have a shot to win it if you’re not there,” Sand Rock head coach Lisa Bates said. “We’re excited to play for the area championship against Geraldine. They’ve beaten us twice, but we’ve played them close. Those games weren’t our best games, but if we play good defense, then we have a good shot.”
Karlie Anderson had eight points and three boards for Sand Rock. Paige Ashley came away with five points, five boards and five assists. Carrie Robertson finished with seven rebounds and six steals.
Peyton Streipt led Westbrook with nine points. Deja Woods had seven points and Mary Catherine Catanzaro finished with six points.
“We knew we had to respect Westbrook because we’d already had two close games with them,” Bates said. “They came out really intense and they really wanted it. They had us way outsized, but I thought Carrie, Karlie and Emily (Ozment) did a great job defensively.”
Sand Rock led 14-6 at the end of the first quarter and held a 22-16 advantage at the half. After a sluggish third quarter, Sand Rock’s lead was whittled to three at 26-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
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