GREENFIELD, Ind. —
The Anderson Lady Tribe brought their best defense in Friday night’s semifinal battle against New Castle and rolled to a 56-31 victory to advance to the final of Class 4A Sectional 9 against Pendleton Heights.
The Tribe (18-5) held the Trojans (5-16) scoreless for 10:07, from 2:53 left in the second quarter all the way until just 46 seconds remained in the third.
“I told them how the game could be decided to start the third quarter. We struggled a little offensively but our defense made sure they didn’t do anything,” Anderson coach Chad Cook said. “We did so much better in the second half moving our feet and getting to the right spot.”
In the quarter, the Tribe forced nine turnovers and held the Trojans to just 10 percent (1-for-10) from the floor.
For the first 13 minutes of the game, it was closely contested.
Anderson rushed out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter, seeing production from four different players. During the early run, 5-foot-4 Savannah Jones tallied two blocks. She would end the game with a game-high four.
But with back-to-back 3-point plays, New Castle would come within four points, as the first ended 14-10.
Trojans’ Brandi Pennington forced a turnover and took it coast-to-coast for an easy layup to cut Anderson’s lead to just one. Anderson’s Da’sha Boyd answered and tallied three points, all free throws, to extend the lead to four. Boyd finished with a game-high 20 points, all off the bench. Danielle Davis was next in double figures with 12, also from the bench.
“That’s no surprise for (Boyd) to do that. We are as deep of a team that I have ever been a part of. We can play 10 and not lose one step,” Cook said.
With the score 21-18, Anderson’s defense went into full force. The Tribe notched 17 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. Anderson finished with 53 percent from the floor (24-of-45).
“When we are supposed to win like that we want to come out and do that,” Cook said.
The Trojans shot 30 percent (11-of-36) from the field with 19 turnovers, while only scoring one 3-pointer (1-13).
In tonight’s championship matchup against Pendleton Heights, Cook knows the game wont be the same as Friday. “We are definitely looking forward to it and we’ve done what we were supposed to do up until now,” said Cook. “We are going up against the reigning champion three times running. Lets see if we can take it from them.”
High School Sports
Related Photos
-
Anderson's Jirah Hart looks to grab a loose ball. Don Knight
Discussion
Tribe triumphs
- High School Sports
-
-
Tipton bedevils Madison-Grant
The Madison-Grant softball team dug a deep hole on Friday night in the championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 at Eastern High School in Greentown. Trailing 5-0 after four innings, the Argylls scratched their way back into the game, but were on the short end of a 5-4 decision against the Tipton Blue Devils.
-
Indians’ Dabney headed to state
The North Central Boys Track Regional is traditionally one of the toughest in the state with powerhouses Lawrence Central, Ben Davis, Pike and the host Panthers among the competitors
But that didn’t faze Anderson senior Derrick Dabney, who turned in two brilliant performances in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at Thursday’s regional to advance to the state meet at Indiana University in Bloomington next Saturday. -
Roller coaster ride comes to end for Lapel
The Lapel Bulldogs couldn’t overcome one more hurdle in their roller-coaster season on Thursday as they fell to Wapahani 4-1 in the softball championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 40 at Shenandoah High School.
-
Mason powers Bulldogs into final
The Frankton pitching staff opened the door just a tick Thursday with occasional bouts of wildness. Lapel sophomore Dane Mason blew the door off its hinges with the first multi-homer game of his high school career — including a walk-off grand slam — and the third-ranked Bulldogs stomped the rival Eagles 14-3 to reach this Class 2A baseball sectional final.
-
Panthers upset Tigers in sectional
Elwood used a seven-run third-inning to stun Alexandria 11-5 and advance to the semifinals of the Class 2A baseball sectional at Eastern.
-
Shenandoah bows out with loss to Wapahani
Wapahani’s Red Raiders advanced to the championship game of the Class 2A Frankton Baseball Sectional with a 7-2 win over Shenandoah.
-
Arabians defend softball title
The Pendleton Heights softball team seemed determined Wednesday to both learn from the past and repeat the parts of it that it found favorable.
That combination resulted in a 7-1 victory over Greenfield and the 4A sectional championship.
The Arabians will play the champion from the Roncalli Sectional in Tuesday’s regional at Pendleton Heights at 7 p.m. -
Pendleton Heights survives round one
The bottom of Pendleton Heights’ batting order came up big Wednesday, and the Arabians survived to fight another day in this Class 4A baseball sectional.
Brandon Schnepp, Skyler Reis and Augdan Wilson — PH’s seventh, eighth and ninth hitters — combined to hit 6-for-8 with two doubles, four runs scored and four RBIs. That was enough to keep the Arabians one step ahead of upstart Connersville until a five-run sixth-inning rally broke open the 10-4 victory. -
Tribe snaps out of long sectional funk
The Anderson Indians baseball team didn’t just get a monkey off their collective backs, they knocked it out of the park ... three times.
Behind a trio of home runs and a strong pitching performance by Curtis Wilson, Anderson won its first sectional baseball game in three years. -
Eagles, Bulldogs reach semifinals
Wednesday was a good night if you were a fan of the Frankton-Lapel Community Schools baseball teams as Frankton knocked off Winchester 17-7 and Lapel routed Muncie Burris 5-1 in Class 2A baseball sectional play.
- More High School Sports Headlines
-
