PC rolls past Spring Hill

PARKERS CHAPEL – Parkers Chapel punched its ticket into the championship game of the 2A 8 District Tournament with a 46-21 victory over Spring Hill on Wednesday.

The Lady Trojans improved to 17-3 and will play at Fordyce in the finals on Friday.

Parkers Chapel dominated with defense.

The Lady Trojans held the Lady Bears without a field goal in the first half.

“I thought the girls did a really good job bringing high energy and being ready to go from the tip,” said PC coach Justin Welch.

“Defensively, I thought we got after it tonight. That’s always good at this time of the year, that you’re playing good, hard-nosed defense.”

Parkers Chapel, which hadn’t played a game in almost two weeks, wasn’t burning down the nets, either.

A 3-pointer by Drue Thomas staked the Lady Trojans to an 8-0 lead with 1:51 left in the opening quarter.

Spring Hill closed the gap to 8-5 early in the second quarter on five free throws.

But PC finally began warming up.

Three-pointers by Thomas and Taylor Fortune sparked a 10-0 spurt, which stretched to a 15-1 run and then a 20-3 run, pushing the lead to 28-8 with 6:10 left in the third.

Thomas, who led PC with 16 points, hit three of her four 3-pointers during this stretch.

“Drue hit some real big shots that were momentum changers,” said Welch.

“It felt like we didn’t score for a little while there in the first half. All of a sudden Drue stepped up and hit one and it kind of popped the cap on it. Things started flowing then.”

The Lady Trojans led 38-13 going into the fourth quarter.

Thomas had an all-around game, adding five boards and four steals with her 16 points. Fortune scored 10 points, drew four offensive charges on defense and blocked two shots.

Ali Looney scored nine. Macie Wood contributed five points and five rebounds.

PC drew six defensive charges in the game with Looney getting the other two.

The Lady Trojans flexed their depth early. Fortune picked up her second foul midway in the second quarter.

Kallie Martin and Jazmyne Malone came in to fill the void in the middle, combining for 10 rebounds.

“I think it was tremendous effort from the whole team,” said Welch. “That second foul with about four minutes in the first half, typically you’re like, ‘uh, oh.’ But you look over and I’ve got a lot of options there. I thought Kallie stepped up really well and played a really good game.

“I thought Jazmyne had a couple really good rebounds, long rebounds. She hustled and tracked down a couple of really long ones, which is huge. In a game like that, it’s those 50-50 balls. As a coach, you want to get all of them.

“I felt like we weren’t, so I challenged them during a timeout to don’t let them have another one. I felt like Jazz was one of the ones who stepped up and really started getting after it and going after that ball.”

Senior guard Lexi Moss left the game with an injury but PC’s bench mob, including Tess Monteith, Rebekah Hardy, Bella Frisby and Makenzie Morgan all saw action in the backcourt.

“I could call out so many names. Until Lexi hurt her knee, I thought she did a really good job of executing the game plan,” said Welch.

“As far as when somebody was coming up the court in transition, she did a good job of leaving her man and cutting it off and circling back and getting back to her man.

“That really stood out to me. I hate it when she hurt her knee because she brought a lot of energy. I think Bella Frisby did a good job of stepping in and taking care of the ball.”

It was an overall team victory for the Lady Trojans, who will play for a No. 1 seed in next week’s regional.

PC split the two meetings with Fordyce, each winning by 10 on their home floor.

“It’s great to be there. It’s exciting. I’m proud for these girls,” said Welch.

“As far as approaching it any differently, we’ll treat it like we always do.

“We have a motto, ‘every game is the most important game of the year.’ The girls have done a really good job of not looking ahead at any point this season. They’ve always taken care of business one game at a time. I feel like it’s going to be business as usual.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but these girls have done a great job of accepting challenges throughout the year.”

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