Ivey Slaughter’s 19 points paced Tattnall Square Academy’s
control of the second half of Friday’s GISA Region 2-AAA girls basketball
final. On their home floor, the Lady Trojans defeated Westfield’s Lady Hornets
40-30 in what was Westfield’s fourth runner-up finish in a region tournament
over the last six years.
If one factor was evident throughout the 32 game minutes
between these two rivals, it was nerves. They split the regular-season series,
each winning on their home floor. The most recent match-up was in Perry with
Cass Cassell’s team racing past Tattnall Square by 10 points 53-43.
It was Westfield showing more poise in the first half with a
lead as much as six. When Tattnall Square tied the game 12-12 at 1:27 of the
first half, Sydney Ledford and Chelsea Whaley scored around a throwaway
turnover by Slaughter. The Lady Trojan center had more than one pass too hot
for her teammates to handle prior to intermission.
Tattnall Square also had some bad clock management by not
taking a shot when time in the second quarter ran out.
The second half turned out to be a whole different story for
the hosts, who showed efficiency on the first possession with a long 2-point
field goal. McKinley Walton answered for Westfield. Though Slaughter put back a
third-chance opportunity, the Lady Hornets stayed ahead by five, 23-18, with
Ledford connecting on two long jumpers at different spots of the floor.
Whaley, a solid offensive producer off the pines all season,
did not enter the third-quarter action for five minutes. Once she did check in,
Whaley went baseline – one of her more effective moves – to draw a foul. She
put the Lady Hornets ahead 24-21, but what would follow was a spurt of six in a
row by Tattnall Square that changed momentum for good.
Stealing the basketball, the Lady Trojans went on a break
only to miss the shot. Walton rebounded only to have Slaughter take the
basketball away. With that play, plus a charging call on Westfield, Tattnall
Square tied the game 24-24 at 1:29 of the third.
The hosts were up 27-24 on a 3-pointer, and then Whaley
ended the streak with 23 seconds on the clock. There were quite a few 1-for-2
free-throw results in the quarter, including one by Slaughter when she drew
Ledford’s fourth foul at the final second.
Down 28-26, Westfield had the first break of the fourth
quarter when Slaughter was hit with a charging foul leaning in the lane. The
Lady Hornets, however, only had four points for the entire period, the first
two on Valerie McLure’s jumper three minutes in.
With that basket, Westfield still trailed by two, and Walton
came up with a fumbled basketball. Slaughter fouled Whaley, whose free throws
knotted things up at 30 all. But, as stated earlier, that was all the Westfield
offense for the game. The next six possessions resulted in four turnovers and
two missed attempts. Tattnall Square went ahead for good 32-30 on Smith’s
assist to Slaughter. The Florida State-signee scored five more from three
offensive rebounds.
Whaley led Westfield’s effort with 11 points, and Ledford
had eight. It was Ledford making Westfield’s initial basket from high-low work
assisted by McLure. One of two senior starters for Cassell, McLure scored 3 off
a steal by Callie Hammerle.
The Lady Hornet defense in the first quarter had much to do
with the unsteady play by Tattnall Square. Katlyn Moseley had a steal, and
Hammerle’s work led to a fifth missed shot in a row for the hosts. Walton, more
than a step from the arc at the top of the key, sank her 3-ball for 8-2
Westfield.
The Lady Trojans would miss seven in a row, but it was Anna
Dooley getting her team’s first offensive board and ended the string. Her team,
though, struggled shooting from the corners and gave up numerous weak-side
rebounds. Whaley caused a turnover as Tattnall Square looked for the first
quarter’s final points.
For more than three minutes of the second quarter, jitters
really got into all players with a series of walking violations, misfires and
errant passes. Whaley, on the baseline, put the tournament’s top seed ahead by
six, 10-4, at 4:40. Dooley nailed a 3-pointer about 20 seconds later.
It was Dooley also scoring the tying points from long range
late in the half.
The second-place spot from a region worked well for
Westfield in the 2011-12 season as the Lady Hornets went on to play for the
GISA AAA championship. For this year’s opening round of state competition,
Cassell’s club will play at 5:30 today (Feb. 20) against either Pinewood
Christian or Westminster at Stratford Academy in Macon. The winner plays on
Friday at either Stratford or Tattnall Square.
HHJ News
