East Rankin wins Overall ChampionshipSouthern Sports & Travel, By Darron Thomas
Championship basketball teams battle adversity with head-on determination and when the adversity is an eleven point first half deficit those teams look to a floor leader that refuses to lose. East Rankin overcame an eleven point first half deficit to beat Pillow 62-44 to win the school’s first Overall basketball title behind the play of senior Brooke Rhodes who finished with a game high 35 points.
Early on it looked as though Pillow was well on their way to a seventh Overall title as they got off to a hot start. The Lady Mustangs ran out to a 5-0 lead on an August Malouf 3-pointer from the wing and Dasha Tsema’s basket in the paint. East Rankin shook off an early cold spell to pull to within two points at 10-8 on a Brooke Rhodes 3-pointer at the 4:11 mark of the quarter. Pillow answered with an 11-2 run that included August Malouf’s second and third 3-pointer of the quarter and a Mary Langdon Gallagher fast break lay-in to put the Lady Mustangs up 21-10. East Rankin closed the gap to 22-15 by the end of the quarter on a Brianna May 3-pointer from the corner and Courtney Lyle’s offensive rebound and put back at the buzzer.
Early on it looked as though Pillow was well on their way to a seventh Overall title as they got off to a hot start. The Lady Mustangs ran out to a 5-0 lead on an August Malouf 3-pointer from the wing and Dasha Tsema’s basket in the paint. East Rankin shook off an early cold spell to pull to within two points at 10-8 on a Brooke Rhodes 3-pointer at the 4:11 mark of the quarter. Pillow answered with an 11-2 run that included August Malouf’s second and third 3-pointer of the quarter and a Mary Langdon Gallagher fast break lay-in to put the Lady Mustangs up 21-10. East Rankin closed the gap to 22-15 by the end of the quarter on a Brianna May 3-pointer from the corner and Courtney Lyle’s offensive rebound and put back at the buzzer.
(Above) Brooke Rhodes (#23) of East Rankin surrounded by Pillow defendersPillow stretched their lead out to 24-15 at the start of the second quarter on two Kristen Stephens free throws but momentum began to swing as East Rankin’s intensity level picked up a notch. Rachel Knight drained a baseline jumper and a Rhodes 3-pointer at the 6:57 mark made it 24-20. After Stephens converted on one of two free throws it was Brooke Rhodes’ offensive rebound plus one that cut the Pillow lead down to 25-23 with just over five minutes to play in the half. After a Holly Ann Pannell basket pushed the Pillow lead back to four points East Rankin cashed in on two consecutive Pillow turnovers. Brooke Rhodes drilled a 12 foot baseline jumper plus one and then collected a steal and converted as East Rankin took their first lead of the game at 28-27 with 3:13 left in the second quarter. The Lady Patriot lead didn’t last long as Pillow outscored East Rankin 6-4 the final two minutes to take a 33-32 lead into the locker-room at the half.
(Above) August Malouf (#24) of Pillow connected on four 3-pointers against East RankinWhile it appeared that Pillow had withstood a furious East Rankin storm midway through the second quarter to retake the lead before the half ended not many expected the wave the Lady Mustangs were about to face in the third quarter. A Rachel Knight assist to Brooke Rhodes in the paint plus one gave the Lady Patriots a 35-33 lead. Rhodes followed that with a steal and assist to Kaitlyn Coghlan and following a Pillow turnover Coghlan drained a 3-pointer from the wing. Coghlan struck again on the next possession as the junior hit a baseline jumper to put East Rankin on top 42-33 with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter. Brooke Rhodes connected on a jumper from the elbow on the very next possession to force a Pillow timeout. East Rankin closed out the quarter on a Courtney Lyle free throw and another signature Brooke Rhodes jumper from the elbow to complete a dominating 15-0 quarter.
(Above) Kaitlyn Coghlan (#25) of East Rankin drives past Kaitlin McDaniel of PillowKaitlin McDaniel of Pillow hit two free throws just over one minute into the final quarter that made it 47-35 but East Rankin outscored the Lady Mustangs 10-4 over the next four minutes to take their biggest lead at 57-39 with 3:21 left en-route to a 62-44 win.
Brooke Rhodes led all scorers with 35 points, Kaitlyn Coghlan added 14, Rachel Knight 7 and Brianna May and Courtney Lyle 3 each.
Holly Ann Pannell led Pillow with 13 points, August Malouf had 12, Kaitlin McDaniel 5, Mary Gallagher and Dasha Tsema 4 each and Holland Falls and Kristen Stephens 3 apiece.
East Rankin finishes their championship season with a 35-2 mark while Pillow closes out at 23-12.
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Post game comments:
**East Rankin head coach Michael McAnally**
“I thought Pillow’s sense of urgency in the first half was a little more than ours. I don’t think we played bad but it was just a case that Pillow was playing better. They came out red hot. I really felt like they gave us their best punch in the first half and the main thing we talked about at halftime was we had to get better defensively and had to rebound. We gave up six offensive rebounds in the first half and that’s totally uncharacteristic of us. We made a concerted effort to just focus and to get on the boards. I don’t know how many rebounds Rachel Knight had in the second half but it seemed like she got every one of them.”
Brooke Rhodes averaged over 30 points during the tournament, have you seen a better player than her? “She’s been the best I’ve ever coached. I’m only ten years into this league but she has to be one of the best ever played. She’s been our leader and as great as she is she’s even a better young lady. I’ve said it time and time again, just when you think she can’t get better she does. She lives for the moment and I’m just speechless because the things she does is remarkable.”
Talk about the role players on the team.....
“It’s easy to look at our team and think that it’s Brooke Rhodes and nobody else but Kaitlyn Coghlan can drive the ball to the basket and when Rachel Knight decides she wants to get a rebound nobody else is going to get it. Bridget Byrd does so many little things for us and Brianna May knows how to take care of the ball and get it to the right people.”
Post game comments:
**East Rankin head coach Michael McAnally**
“I thought Pillow’s sense of urgency in the first half was a little more than ours. I don’t think we played bad but it was just a case that Pillow was playing better. They came out red hot. I really felt like they gave us their best punch in the first half and the main thing we talked about at halftime was we had to get better defensively and had to rebound. We gave up six offensive rebounds in the first half and that’s totally uncharacteristic of us. We made a concerted effort to just focus and to get on the boards. I don’t know how many rebounds Rachel Knight had in the second half but it seemed like she got every one of them.”
Brooke Rhodes averaged over 30 points during the tournament, have you seen a better player than her? “She’s been the best I’ve ever coached. I’m only ten years into this league but she has to be one of the best ever played. She’s been our leader and as great as she is she’s even a better young lady. I’ve said it time and time again, just when you think she can’t get better she does. She lives for the moment and I’m just speechless because the things she does is remarkable.”
Talk about the role players on the team.....
“It’s easy to look at our team and think that it’s Brooke Rhodes and nobody else but Kaitlyn Coghlan can drive the ball to the basket and when Rachel Knight decides she wants to get a rebound nobody else is going to get it. Bridget Byrd does so many little things for us and Brianna May knows how to take care of the ball and get it to the right people.”
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**East Rankin senior Brooke Rhodes**
“We worked hard for this all year because we fell short last year when we lost in the semi finals. Pillow shot the ball well in the first quarter and we just knew we had to take their punches and keep going with it."
What adjustments were made at halftime?
"He (Coach McAnally) told us we had sixteen minutes and it needed to be the best sixteen minutes we’ve played all year. He said we needed to start in the third quarter and I think we did that.”
**East Rankin senior Brooke Rhodes**
“We worked hard for this all year because we fell short last year when we lost in the semi finals. Pillow shot the ball well in the first quarter and we just knew we had to take their punches and keep going with it."
What adjustments were made at halftime?
"He (Coach McAnally) told us we had sixteen minutes and it needed to be the best sixteen minutes we’ve played all year. He said we needed to start in the third quarter and I think we did that.”
ER...15...17...15...15...62
PA...22...11....0...11....44
