photos by Charlie McDonald (charlie.mcdonald@surewestsports.com)
by Mike Finnerty (mike.finnerty@surewestsports.com)
In an early season match up of the area's top two girls teams, the No. 1 Sacramento Dragons (4-0) outscored the No. 2 Pleasant Grove Eagles (3-2) by a count of 18-7 in the final 6:20 of the game to prevail, 52-42.
"We didn't play very good in moments, but we can sure battle like crazy," said Sacramento head coach Michele Massari. "That's exactly what we need to go down to Arizona and play one of the top tournaments in the nation."
Sacramento went up 7-4 early, but the lead grew to double digits with a Jasmine Ware three-point basket to make it 16-6 early in the second quarter.
The Dragons were active on the defensive end, early and often, while the Eagles struggled to find their shot, particularly in close.
However, Pleasant Grove spent the balance of the second quarter chipping away at the Sac High lead scoring inside and knocking down free throws behind the play of senior point guard Marissa Wimbley and junior Avonna Lee, cutting the Sac High lead to 21-17 by halftime.
Pleasant Grove was finally able to tie the score for the first time since the game started out at 4-4, but this time the Eagles tied it at 23-23 thanks to a pair of free throws by senior post Rachel Beebe with 5:23 left in the third.
Both teams traded the lead until Sac High took over for good with a mid court steal that resulted in a layup by Jehiah Cook with 6:35 left to play, making it 36-35 Sac High advantage.
"We needed to battle and fight, and when things don't go our way, we need to keep fighting," said Massari. "We could have just folded when they made a little run."
Down the stretch it was Sac High's 6'4" senior center Ayanna "Shaq" Edwards taking over in the paint with baskets in close scoring six fourth quarter points to go with Ware's seven points in the final frame.
"When Shaq started making those shots that got us going,"said Ware. "We also kept boxing out as a team. We do a drill every day, boxing out, and if you lose we do suicides, so we just thought of it like a practice."
Up 47-42 with 1:10 left to play, Sac High put the game out of reach when junior guard Casey Williams drilled a three-pointer from the left arch, only to be mobbed by her teammates right after the big shot, that was no doubt the dagger for Pleasant Grove.
"They came out and they competed, and thats what I was looking for," said Pleasant Grove head coach James McKeever. "Sac High is a tough school, I just think that we probably squandered it with a few turnovers at the end."
Ware (19 points) and Edwards (12) led Sacramento in scoring, while Wimberly's 16 points paced with Eagles to go with 10 from junior Dezja James.
Next up for Sac High is a trip to Arizona for the Nike Tournament of Champions (Dec 12 - 19), followed by the West Coast Jamboree tournament (Dec 27 - 30).
Pleasant Grove will finish out the week back on the home floor with games against Brookside Christian on Wednesday and Franklin on Thursday.