GIRLS 4A AREA 4 SEMIS: LAMP pulls away late to beat BTW; Catholic rips Bullock County
LAMP guard Ariana Cannida battles for the ball against Booker T. Washington defenders in the Golden Tigers’ win in the Class 4A Area 4 semis at Catholic on Tuesday. (Graham Dunn)
BY GRAHAM DUNN
LAMP girls head basketball coach Michael Thornton wasn’t expecting a cakewalk in Tuesday’s Class 4A, Area 4 tournament semifinal against Booker T. Washington.
But it wasn’t supposed to be quite this hard, either.
The Golden Tigers pulled away in the second half for a 41-21 victory over the Lady Golden Eagles and advance to the tournament finals on Friday. But the 20-point advantage wasn’t indicative of the difficulty they endured in the win.
“(BTW) was ready for this,” Thornton said. “I think they were ready for our zone and had a game plan for it. Our press worked for us tonight but we had a tough time shooting the ball. They contested every shot.”
The Tigers had beaten BTW with relative ease in the first two meetings but faced a different team on Tuesday.
LAMP struggled in the first half scoring just five points in the first period. That struggle continued through the half and despite scoring just 15 points, the Tigers held a nine-point lead at the break.
The good news for LAMP - BTW was struggling more so, scoring just two free throws in the first eight minutes and a pair of field goals in the second period.
LAMP shooters were drawing blanks and not working the paint, Thornton said.
“We were relying on it too much (on the 3) but they started falling in the second half,” he said. “The girls settled down and played better but we give them a lot of credit.”
The Eagles pulled to within five points before LAMP pushed the lead back to eight by the end of the third quarter. The combination of Ariana Cannida and Grayson Dickert ended any ideas of an upset with the two draining a couple 3-pointers in the fourth period to help LAMP pull away.
Cannida led the Tigers with 16 points and was the only player in double figures. Dickert had nine points while Serenity Griffin had seven.
Keaundra Tatum scored six points to lead BTW, which finished the season at 6-11.
The Tigers (17-12) will face Montgomery Catholic in the area final and the roles will be reversed. Catholic beat LAMP twice during the regular season.
“They were hungry but I’m proud of the way we finished,” Thornton said. “We will used that (on Friday).”
Montgomery Catholic 79, Bullock County 30
Coach Jill Clark was able to clear her bench early with every player available getting several minutes on the court in the win over Bullock County in Tuesday’s first game of the Class 4A, Area 4 tournament at the Catholic gym.
The Lady Knight held a 51-15 lead at halftime with Hannah Smith scoring 26 of her team-high 31 points in the first half.
Allyse Rudolph added 11 points while Heaven Bailey had 14 points with all but two coming in the first half.
Catholic (21-7) and LAMP will play Friday at 5 p.m. Both teams will advance to the sub-regional round on Monday.