Arabia Mountain’s Malaya Jones (2) shoots over Calhoun’s Kat Atha (5) during second half action of Calhoun’s 62-52 Class 5A girls’ Elite 8 matchup. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The No. 8 ranked Calhoun Yellowjacket answered every run made by the Arabia Mountain Lady Rams to win their Class 5A Elite 8 matchup 62-52 at Calhoun on Tuesday night.
The biggest answer came at the end of the third quarter following with Arabia Mountain (26-3) trailing 43-36. The Rams got a big offensive put back by Myori Pruitt as she rebounded her own miss and then Malaya Jones hit a three-pointer to close the gap to 43-31 with 2:34 to play.
Both teams had a turnover and Calhoun’s Sa’Niah Dorsey got open on the left wing to sink a three-pointer and 35 seconds later Lauren Watson hit another three as the Yellowjackets jumped back ahead 49-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dorsey opened the fourth quarter with a drive to the basket to give Calhoun its first double-digit lead of the game at 51-41 with 6:47 to play.
Arabia Mountain would not get any closer than eight points the rest of the way as Calhoun (25-4) was able to hold off the cold shooting Rams for the win.
Arabia was 21 of 64 (33%) from the field and just 4 of 12 (33.3 %) from the free throw line for the game. Calhoun playing at home hit 22 of 50 (44%) from the field and 11 of 16 (68.8 %)) from the line.
The Rams led once in the game as Angelina Billingsley got an offensive put back with 2:16 to play in the first half to make it 25-22. Calhoun answered the Arabia Mountain rush with a 10-0 run to finish the half by answering with a three-point play and a three-pointer by Dorsey to regain the lead for good at 28-25. The half ended as Britiya Curtis and Kat Atha both hit two-for-two from the free-throw line to make it 49-41 at the half.
Lauren Chavis was the top scorer for Arabia Mountain with 16 points along with 7 rebounds. Malaya Jones finished with 12 points while Angelina Billingsley had 8 points and 8 rebounds while Myori Pruitt finished with 4 points and 11 points.
Calhoun’s Sa’Niah Dorsey led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Britiya Curtis added 10 points and 7 rebounds and Kat Atha added 10 points for Calhoun.
DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
THIRD ROUND
Tuesday, 2/28
Class 5A Girls
Calhoun (25-4) 62, Arabia Mountain (26-3) 52
Wednesday, 3/1
Class 2A Boys
Columbia (29-1) vs. Windsor-Forest (23-6), 6:00 pm
Class 3A Boys
Long Co. (20-11) at Cedar Grove (18-9), 6:00 pm