Augusta Christian, Prep split games
Abby Alexander knew the Augusta Prep-Augusta Christian match-up would be big - even though the two schools no longer play for region victories or playoff ramifications.
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Augusta Christian's Sarah-Beth McKinney gets covered by Augusta Prep's Kaitlyn Gibbs during basketball action. The Lady Cavaliers defeated the Lady Lions 42-36 on Friday night.
Photo by Michael Holahan
"Oh, it is still a big one for us," said Alexander, a Prep senior who has battled against ACS since middle school. "We still circle the game on our calendar."
Alexander and the Lady Cavaliers defeated ACS 42-36 Friday night at the Lions' Den.
Prep (6-3) controlled the pace of the game offensively, slowing down its offense to force ACS into a half-court game. The Cavs then put the game away, going 11-16 from the line in the fourth quarter.
"The last thing we wanted to do was run up and down with them," said Prep coach Maureen McCormack. "We set out to slow down the game and take good shots."
The Lady Lions had been averaging 57 points a game while winning four out of their first five games to start the season.
"We knew they had been hot," said Alexander, who had 10 points. "They have a lot of weapons and we wanted to control the game. We wanted to limit put-back opportunities for Sarah Beth (McKinney). I think we did a good job of that."
McKinney had been averaging more than 15 rebounds a game to go with 12.4 points a contest. McKinney finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Augusta Christian's Kyle Redd goes for the layup against Augusta Prep's Robert Sussman during action Friday evening.
Photo by Michael Holahan
"Sarah Beth played a good game," said Lions coach Keith Walton. "She just didn't have a lot of help on the scoring end. We figured if the game was in the 30s we'd lose. We are having a tough time in half court games. We're young, so hopefully it will come in time."
The ACS boys team avenged an early season loss to Prep with a 70-53 win Friday.
Prep (7-2) beat the Lions 46-42 in the consolation round of the Garden City Classic earlier this month.
The Lions (4-2) never trailed the Cavaliers, pulling away in the second quarter when ACS outscored Prep by seven.
"The nine-point halftime lead was big for us," said Lions coach Marty Griffin. "We were up by about the same amount the last time we played them, but we did a better job of responding when they made a run."
Prep cut the game to six in the third quarter, but the Lions pushed the lead back to 12 on a three pointer by Nolan Belcher early in the fourth. Belcher was one of five Lions in double figures.
"We are young and we rely on a bunch of guys to pick up the slack in scoring," said Kyle Redd. "We lost six important players so we are still trying to find out what works."
Augusta Christian's Kyle Redd goes for the layup against Augusta Prep's Robert Sussman.
Photo by Michael Holahan
ACS won despite sending Prep to the line 41 times, with the Cavs making 21.
"We have to make our free throws," said Prep coach Mike Guthrie. "You can't win if you're not making those."