News-Times Staff
MAGNOLIA - West Side Christian's girls basketball team stands one win away from a state championship after winning a pair of games on Friday at the AACS State Tournament.
In their first game of the day, the Lady Warriors rolled to a 48-29 victory over Southwest Christian Academy.
In the semifinals, West Side Christian ended Christian Ministries Academy's bid for a repeat as state champions with a 52-43 victory.
West Side Christian will face the winner of Friday's late semifinal contest between Columbia Christian and Garrett Memorial Christian at 2:15 p.m. today for the state crown.
"We did a really good job," said West Side Christian coach Randall Miller. "They have two guards who are good shot creators, and we did a good job of limiting their touches. We were up 19, and they pressed us a little bit. We turned it over a couple of times and they hit a couple of threes, but we did a good job of keeping our composure and finishing the game."
Lauren Land played a pivotal role in the Lady Warriors reaching the championship game, scoring 15 points in the win over Southwest Christian Academy before erupting for 25 points in the semifinals.
Hannah Miller also had a pair of solid performances, scoring seven points against Southwest Christian Academy and six points against Christian Ministries Academy.
Daisy Tabe chipped in with seven points in the win over Southwest Christian Academy.
In addition to Land and Miller, Olivia Voss had eight points and Sofia Narciso added six points in the Lady Warriors' semifinal win.
While the Lady Warriors were successful in advancing to the state finals, the Warriors saw their season come to an end in the semifinals.
After outlasting Premier Academy 46-44 in their first game of the day, the Warriors fell to Christian Ministries Academy 57-45 in the semifinals.
Viraj Vora had 20 points, while Stephfan Tabe added 13 points and Zachary Scriber finished with seven points for the Warriors (20-8) in their victory.
In their loss against the two-time defending state champions, Tabe had 17 points with Zackley Pearson tallying eight points.
Vora and Scriber finished with seven points apiece for the Warriors.
Should the Lady Warriors (22-4) face Columbia Christian for the state title, it would be the fourth meeting between the schools.
All three games between the rivals have been close with each being decided by eight points or less with Columbia Christian winning the last encounter 46-43 in the AACS South Regional Championship last weekend at West Side Christian.