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G I R L S B A S K E T B A L L : T R I - S TAT E v s W E S T N OT T I N G H A M
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
DANIELS LEADS CHARGE IN 42-25 VICTORY OVER WEST NOTTINGHAM RAMS By Kevin Phillips
COLORA–Tri-State Christian Academy struggled on both ends of the floor grabbing rebounds in the first half of its Mid-Atlantic Independent League girls’ basketball contest against host West Nottingham Academy Thursday afternoon. The Crusaders picked up the intensity on the boards in the second half as they limited second chance opportunities and held the Rams to 10 points in the final two quarters to pull away for a 42-25 victory. “A lot of the 50/50 balls weren’t going our way,” Tri-State head coach Bill Smith said. “We had to decide if we wanted to
box out and rebound. We picked up our sense of urgency and began to box out and rebound.” With the score knotted up at 19-19 midway through the third quarter, the Crusaders ratcheted up the defensive pressure in their half-court trap, which forced several turnovers and low-percentage shots. As a result of those low-percentage shots, the Crusaders did not allow another field goal until there were four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and after the missed shots, Tri-State’s bigs were in the right place to pick up the rebound. In that stretch in which the Crusaders did not allow a field goal, they went on a 20-1
run that gave them a 39-20 lead to take control of the game, and the duo of Mimi Daniels and Jules Harris combined for 16 points during the run. Daniels finished with 13 points, nine of which came during the game-deciding run, credits her teammates for creating open looks for her during the surge. “I felt pretty confident tonight because I got some good passes from teammates,” Daniels said. “We started off pretty bad, but once I started hitting my shots, I did a lot better.” Harris scored a gamehigh 14 points for Tri-State while the Rams got 10 points from Jenniah Odige.
