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By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Oh, those offensive boards.
They almost led to the biggest upset of the GISA AAA girls basketball opening round.
When four extra shots in a row by Pinecrest Academy – a region fourth-place team – didn’t find the space in the rim, and Sheldon Hiley made the defensive play of the season so far, Westfield’s Region 3-AAA champion Lady Hornets escaped the state first round with a 47-46 win Wednesday at First Presbyterian Day in Macon.
Pinecrest’s Lady Paladins, out of Region 1-AAA, was in front of Westfield for more than 10 game minutes of the second half. Doing about 95 percent of the scoring damage inside, Pinecrest, after giving up the lead at the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter, scored its one and only field goal of the fourth, on the offensive boards, at 1:04.
Down 46-45, Westfield senior point guard Haley Way put up a shot that received one of the best rolls during Jeff Eubanks’ tenure as coach at the Perry school. The Lady Hornets had what would be the winning score, but all the traveling supporters saw plenty of angst for the next 33 seconds.
Coming out of a timeout, the Lady Paladins got the basketball back inside the paint and missed shot after shot after shot before Mallory Eubanks was able to get a hold of the basketball.
“I thought that ball was everywhere but where it needed to be,” said Jeff Eubanks. “They had so many attempts. You have to give God all the glory. In the last two games we’ve won, God has been a presence. How can you come back from that … when you’re not making shots, and then you are? It’s like it’s meant to be.”
It still wasn’t finished, as with 9.4 seconds showing, Westfield did not get any points from the foul line. Pinecrest rebounded and broke towards the other end. Hiley sprinted with the opposition and knocked the ball free.
Hiley led the Lady Hornets in scoring with 10 points. Way scored nine and had two steals. Mallory Eubanks scored eight and Erin McLure seven.
Pinecrest’s Margaret Cassandra, a junior, led all players with 17 points.
Westfield was down by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and by 11, 43-32, going into the final eight minutes. Coach Eubanks had four players from his bench on the floor to start the fourth, and he credited that unit with doing the first thing needed for the comeback: stop Pinecrest’s offensive rhythm.
“We got beat on the boards tremendously,” he said. “I took my starters out when we were down by 13, frustrated with them for lack of effort. Some were kind of falling apart mentally.
“The second group turned it around for us. They showed that defense can be played, we can box out. They forced three turnovers. We went to the first group late, played the full-court man-to-man, got a few breaks and started scoring.”
From the reserve unit, guard Maggie Hammerle 1scored the first basket of the fourth and had a steal along with McLure, the only starter on the floor with the backups.
Starters returned to the action with Westfield down 44-34, but Hiley hit a 3-pointer to begin a 10-0 run. Senior forward Kaci Whiddon knocked in her first basket, a high-post jumper, after a turnover. For only the second time, the Lady Hornets earned second-chance points with Hiley scoring after a McLure rebound.
Hiley had to take a seat again with four fouls, but Caroline Amos came through in reserve standing open on the weak side and putting her team up 45-44 with 2:30 remaining.
Westfield did miss two one-and-one front ends, but Pinecrest also let points slip away missing five of six attempts at the line.
For the first half, Westfield’s offense lived and died by the 3-point shot. The only basket scored inside the arc was the first made by Way off a steal. Mallory Eubanks hit two treys, one on a fast break, and Way connected from a high-post assist by McLure.
Pinecrest did not have such success from outside, but showed the same strong inside game from the two teams’ December meeting in Perry (won by Westfield 56-40). Way’s trey put her team up 11-10, but the Lady Paladins ended the quarter on a 6-2 run. Cassandra excited her team with a spin move in transition for a three-point play.
It was 16-13 Pinecrest after one quarter as Westfield had five straight scoreless possessions.
Hiley, Erin McLure and sister Valerie made 3-pointers in the second quarter for all of Westfield’s offense. After a stick-back score from Pinecrest tied the score 22-22, the Lady Paladins made a steal cutting off a passing lane outside and scored a third-chance basket to lead 24-22 at the half.
“3’s kept us in the first half,” said coach Eubanks. “We just gave up too many rebounds. We couldn’t play any defense until late.”
In fact it was Mallory Eubanks scoring on her own offensive rebound early in the third quarter for Westfield’s first second-chance points. But the Lady Hornets were forcing shots against the Pinecrest zone and didn’t make another field goal until Hiley scored from an Abby Goodroe pass.
The Lady Paladins, however, had gone ahead by 10, 36-26, on turnover baskets, second shots and a fast-break hoop by senior forward Kakyla Bergen.
The only Pinecrest senior stuck in a short jumper off penetration. Cassandra scored five to close out the third on the only Lady Paladin 3 of the game and her own steal.
With the win, the Lady Hornets played Friday afternoon against Stratford Academy in the quarterfinals. The winner advances to the semifinals this coming Friday at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
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