Published: 12:39 AM, Fri Feb 19, 2010
Seventy-First girls win sloppy semi
Neither Seventy-First coach Tracie Taylor nor South View coach Brent Barker knew what to make of their two teams' sloppy semifinal matchup Thursday.
Maybe it was the fact that their two squads had just played Monday night, or maybe it was the wear and tear of playing their third game so far this week. Either way, both teams were out of synch as the No. 2 Falcons downed the No. 3 Tigers 60-39 in the Mid-South Conference tournament.
"I felt like when we first came out and built a decent lead, we stopped competing and started playing a little too relaxed," said Taylor, whose squad improved to 21-3 overall.
Combining for 60 turnovers - 34 by Seventy-First, 26 by South View - both teams struggled to get into any offensive rhythm. Only two players in the entire game reached double figures, but the Falcons' Simone Ewers poured in a game-high 20 points - 14 coming after halftime - to get her squad to the conference championship game.
Seventy-First will meet top-seeded E.E. Smith for the fourth time this season at 7 p.m. today in the Golden Bulls' gym. The exact matchup the Falcons wanted with all three of their losses coming against Smith this season.
"We really weren't playing our game tonight," Ewers said. "We're going to have to step it up when we play E.E. Smith."
After being within three points at halftime of Monday's game, South View (17-8) never led in this contest and trailed 27-18 at the break. The team's ball pressure on defense forced Seventy-First into uncharacteristic turnovers, but it couldn't make up for losing the rebounding battle 57-26.
Diona Curtis, the county's top rebounder averaging 13.6 per game, grabbed 18 to go with eight points for the Falcons. Teammate Carolyn Smith, who is right behind her averaging 13.1 rebounds per contest, finished with 10 to go with nine points.
Many of those grabs came off the offensive glass for easy putbacks, providing Ewers time to heat up from the field.
Rachel Temple was the only South View player to finish in double figures with 12 points, and teammate Ciara Morris chipped in nine. But Barker wasn't harping on the negatives after losing to Seventy-First for the third time this season.
"I would have liked to have seen us play a little tougher against our last conference opponent," Barker said. "But I told them to hold their heads up because we start a whole new season Monday."