MONTGOMERY – McAuley held Wilmington to one fourth quarter basket Thursday and ended the Lady Hurricane season 45-37 in a Division I Sectional girls basketball game at Sycamore High School.
The WHS girls finish the season at 20-3. McAuley continues on in the tournament with a 19-3 record.
Mya Jackson led Wilmington with 24 points. She also had six rebounds and four steals. Leah Frisco had six points. No other player for WHS had more than two points.
Lexi Fleming paced the McAuley offense with 14 points.
“I told the girls all week every possession mattered,” WHS head coach Zach Williams said. “When it came down to crunch time, the big shots just wouldn’t fall.”
Wilmington, who played without Katlyn Jamiel who tried to go but couldn’t because of an injury, struggled in the first half to take care of the ball, committing 14 turnovers. WHS had nine turnovers in the second quarter.
McAuley, champions of the Girls Greater Catholic League, scored 27 turnovers in all by Wilmington.
“McAuley is a solid team, well-coached and they play hard just like we do,” said Williams.
McAuley was just 4 of 27 from beyond the three-point arc but hit 5 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.
Wilmington, champions of the SBAAC American, got off to a fast start and led 12-7 late in the opening period when Jasmine Jamiel scored her only two points of the game.
McAuley scored 12 of the game’s next 17 points and took a 21-17 lead. The difference was 24-19 McAuley at halftime. Jackson had 13 of the WHS points at the break.
In the third period, Wilmington had the hot hand, converting 7 of 12 from the field. Jackson had eight points. Bailey Zerby fed Frisco for an easy two and Wilmington grabbed a 27-26 lead. As it turned out, that would be the last time WHS was on top.
Fleming had six points in short order to turn a 27-26 WHS lead into a 32-26 WHS deficit.
In the final period, Wilmington made just 1 of 8 from the field, 1 of 4 at the free throw line and turned the ball over eight times.
“We never stopped fighting,” Williams said. “We just came up a little bit short.”
SUMMARY
February 22 2018
Division I Sectional
@Sycamore High School
McAuley 45 Wilmington 37
M 09.15.10.11…..45
W 12.07.15.03…..37
(45) McAULEY (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Heidemann 1-0-2-4 Benning 1-0-2-4 Casey 1-0-2-4 Fleming 6-1-1-14 Smith 2-2-0-6 Kelhoffer 1-0-0-2 Tensing 2-0-2-6 Toelke 0-0-0-0 Dorr 1-1-0-3. TOTALS 16-4-9-45
(37) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) J. Jamiel 1-0-0-2 Jackson 10-2-2-24 Frisco 3-0-0-6 S. Johns 1-0-0-2 Zerby 1-0-0-2 McCord 0-0-1-1 Fryman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 16-2-3-37
FIELD GOALS: W (16-43) Jackson 10-22 Frisco 3-5; M (16-54) Fleming 6-19
3 PT FIELD GOALS: W (2-14); M (4-27)
FREE THROWS: W (3-8); M (9-19)
REBOUNDS: W-35 (Zerby 8 J. Jamiel 7 Jackson 6 McCord 5); M-34 (Fleming 9 Benning 5)
ASSISTS: W-3 (J. Jamiel 2); M-8 (Benning 3 Fleming 3)
STEALS: W-14 (Frisco 4 Jackson 4 McCord 3); M-12 (Fleming 5 Benning 5)
BLOCKED SHOTS: W-1; M-2
TURNOVERS: W-27; M-21
