Bryan Station rallies from 14 down to win 42nd District semifinal; Henry Clay cruises
Bryan Station got its No. 1 seed in the 42nd District girls’ basketball tournament by virtue of a 7-1 district record and a coin flip that fell its way when the bracket was set a week ago.
But the Defenders’ overall record of 11-12 made them look ripe for an upset, especially to a Sayre team playing its best basketball at precisely the right moment.
For a half, the Spartans (11-16) looked like world-beaters, taking a 30-16 lead into intermission.
But then, Bryan Station remembered who it was, how it got here and how to win.
“At halftime, the best thing I could say is that when I walked in the locker room, they were already talking together about how we’re going to win the game,” said first-year Bryan Station coach Serena Sandusky. “We talked about the mistakes that we had. We made adjustments and our kids, they listened.”
The Defenders rallied for a 58-50 win over the Spartans on their home court Wednesday. The victory advances Bryan Station to the 42nd District finals on Friday night against Henry Clay and next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
Their game was part of a girls-boys doubleheader at Bryan Station High School, the second of two nights of semifinals. Henry Clay defeated Scott County 56-43 in Wednesday’s boys’ semifinals.
Bryan Station turns up the intensity in comeback
One of the adjustments Sandusky made at halftime was getting back to the kind of full-court pressure the Defenders had used during the regular season. Not knowing how her team would respond to playing in front of the biggest crowd of the year, Sandusky held off pressing early in an effort to preserve her players’ energy levels late. Now, it was time to go.
“We definitely had to, being down 14. Our M.O. all year had been the press,” Sandusky said. … I wanted to make sure our kids were comfortable, that they could play their game. We should have pressed a little earlier. That’s on me. But we got the ‘W’ so I can sleep tonight, a little bit.”
Speeding up the Spartans paid immediate dividends. Bryan Station got eight points off eight Sayre turnovers in the third quarter and held the Spartans to three field goals as they narrowed the deficit to 40-36 by the end of the third quarter.
Sophomore forward Victory Sledge scored nine of her team-high 16 points during the third quarter rally, including making three of four free throws to end the period.
“I wanted it so bad. … So, the dog really came out of me and my team,” Sledge, a team co-captain said. “Coming out, second half, we knew we couldn’t lose. Like, we can’t lose this game. Because we really wanted it as a team.”
When fellow captain Tania Woodall, the team’s lone senior starter, got a steal at half court and broke away for a layup and a foul shot to put Bryan Station ahead 43-42 for the first time since leading 2-0, the Defenders had fully seized the momentum of the game with 6:54 to play.
“Tania — I’ve said it all year — she’s our heart. She’s our energy,” Sandusky said. “When she leads like that, it’s contagious. You can’t help but get in tune with her and get on that same page.”
Rally complete, all that was left for Bryan Station to do was finish the game.
“Everybody got turned and we just started scoring even more from there,” Sledge said.
After an exchange of baskets, Makari Murphy’s three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter expanded Station’s lead to 50-46. Murphy finished with nine points, including two second-half three-pointers. Jailenn Green was second on the team with 16 points and had a three-pointer during the third quarter rally.
The Defenders wouldn’t trail again and got big defensive stops late via two steals and a block by Woodall and a block by Sledge in the closing minutes.
“Victory and Tania did exactly what they were supposed to do (as captains),” Sandusky said. “They led our kids. They talked, and then we got stops when we needed to.”
Henry Clay takes out Scott County
Henry Clay’s Aziel Blackwell and Kanye Henderson didn’t have to think long about the key to the top-seeded Blue Devils’ 56-43 win over Scott County on Wednesday.
“Our toughness,” Blackwell said. “We just fought and we just kept fighting.”
“Our energy and defense. That’s what helps us win games,” Henderson added.
The Blue Devils (24-7) outrebounded Scott County 28-18, including a 13-6 edge on the offensive glass. They also got solid production from 6-foot-7 center Brenden Wicker who scored 10 points with eight rebounds and two blocks.
“We’ve just realized that we’ve got to get it into him,” Blackwell said. “He gives us a lot of energy. He always just brings it. He’s always crashing boards and getting blocks and it turns us up.”
Blackwell fed Wicker for a buzzer-beating layup and a 24-16 halftime lead. The Blue Devils expanded the lead to 36-21 midway through the fourth quarter on a Konlin Brown three-pointer and were not seriously threatened from there. Nick Mosby led Scott County (10-18) with 28 points.
“I thought we showed a lot of grit and toughness, defensively and definitely on the backboards,” Henry Clay Coach Daniel Brown said.
The win advances Henry Clay to Friday’s 42nd District finals against Frederick Douglass as well as next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
