Girls Claim County Title!!

Written By: Jeff Browning

The girls county championship matched Schilling Farms Middle School and Lowrance Middle School. This would be the fourth head to head battle of the year for these two programs. And, while Schilling’s Lady Stallions had taken the first three matchups, you just knew Lowrance’s Lady Lions were looking for payback.

And, that payback was evident at the outset , with Lowrance scoring on their first three possessions to take a 6-0 lead with two of the three baskets being made by two of their three bigs in the frontcourt. Schilling’s coach, Patty Gardner quickly called a timeout to settle her girls down and make some adjustments. From the timeout, those coaching adjustments showed as Schilling ran off 8 straight to close out the quarter and lead 8-6. Included in those 8 were two jumpers by Bren Holden and a steal and layup by her twin sister Elise. Schilling’s star guard Marissa Knox accounted for the other two on a super smooth cross-over. You could sense both teams didn’t have a good rhythm yet and were feeling the pressure.

The second half saw Lowrance dominate , outscoring the Lady Stallions 12-5. The offensive outburst was due to Lowrance’s star guard Amber Holmes taking over scoring from everywhere. She scored the first six of the quarter which included a beautiful high arching bank over Schilling’s center Madison McCaster and a smooth 15ft jumper. After the Lion’s big center Eryn Foster scored on a layup, Holmes once again took over scoring on a beautiful floater and front end of a 1 an 1 that saw Lowrance take a commanding 18-10 lead. But, Schilling would not go away, closing the gap on the scoreboard with a steal and finish by 6th grader Jada Rober and one free throw by Marissa Knox to bring the Lady Stallions within 5 at the half, 18-13.

As the second half began, Lowrance couldn’t secure a Schilling miss three times and Knox got the putback and foul. She missed the freethrow bringing the score to 18-15, Lions. But, Amber Holmes wouldn’t be outdone, as she scored two quick baskets, one off a steal and the other on a defensive rebound that saw the super quick Holmes dodge in and out of traffic racing end to end for a layup to make the score 22-15 in favor of Lowrance. However, Holmes’ expended alot of energy leading her team, and Schilling took advantage, scoring the next 7 points to tie the score 22 all after three quarters.

The fourth quarter didn’t see much scoring as both teams looked exhausted missing layups left and right and freethrows, but Schilling was definitely the fresher team in the end. Lowrance’s Holmes was spent after undoubtedly being the best player on the court for the first three quarters and giving all she had. Both teams traded baskets twice and Schilling’s Bren Holden and Knox both made one of two fts , giving their team a 28-26 lead wih just 23 seconds remaining and a chance for the Lady Lions to tie the game, but on Knox’s second freethrow, she missed and Bren Holden gathered the board, only to miss with a putback and Lowrance got the rebound. But , before Holmes could get the ball from her teammate and head down the court, the Stallions tied it up. Possession, Schilling. This is when Lowrance had a mental breakdown, both players and coach and essentially lost the game. With 16 seconds left and only down 2, the Lions allowed Knox and company to dribble the clock out instead of fouling, giving the Lady Stallions the championship. Weird way to end a great game by two quality and well coached teams, although exhaustion played a major role.

Schilling was led by Knox’s 10 , Bren Holden’s 7 and 4 apiece by Elise Holden and Jada Rober. Lowrance was led by Amber Holme’s 14 and Eryn Foster’s 6.

In the girl’s consolation game, Shadowlawn faced Mt. Pisgah for the fourth time this season. Pisgah held the 2-1 series advantage. But, in this game, dynamite player Jasmine Cincore put Shadowlawn on her shoulders and led her team to victory, 42-34. Brittany Cowans led Mt. Pisgah with 9.