Southern Sports & Travel, By Darron Thomas
The 3rd ranked Kirk Raiderettes advanced to the North State Class AA semi-finals but it wasn’t easy as Lamar gave the host team all they wanted for one half of play. Kirk senior Kelsey Marter led all scorers with 17 points and helped fuel a dominating second half in which the Kirk defense held Lamar to three points en-route to a 40-23 win to improve to 27-9 on the year.
Lamar used a 14-6 run, sparked by sophomore Olivia Mabry midway through the 2nd quarter to pull to within one point at 19-18 with 1:44 left in the half and would go into halftime trailing by just three points at 23-20.
Kirk increased their lead to 25-20 on Audra Woods 8 footer at the 5:10 mark of the 3rd quarter and went up 27-20 on an offensive rebound and put back from Carmen Woods. Following a Lamar free throw Kirk would finish the quarter with two free throws from Kelsey Marter and an offensive rebound and score at the buzzer from Woods to send Kirk into the final quarter with their biggest lead at 31-21.
Olivia Mabry’s steal and lay-in at the 6:45 mark of the 4th quarter got Lamar to within eight points at 31-23 but they would get no closer as Kirk ran off nine straight points to end the contest in what would be their biggest lead of the night at 40-23.
Kelsey Marter led Kirk with 17 points, Carmen Woods added 12, Allye Lundy had 7 and Audra Woods 4.
Olivia Mabry’s 9 points led Lamar, Allison Justus and Miller Watkins had 5 each and Natalie Williams and Madison Lee 2 apiece.
Kirk will take on 4th ranked Oak Hill in the semi-finals today. Oak Hill improved to 23-8 with a 51-38 win over Hillcrest in the early game yesterday.
Lamar used a 14-6 run, sparked by sophomore Olivia Mabry midway through the 2nd quarter to pull to within one point at 19-18 with 1:44 left in the half and would go into halftime trailing by just three points at 23-20.
Kirk increased their lead to 25-20 on Audra Woods 8 footer at the 5:10 mark of the 3rd quarter and went up 27-20 on an offensive rebound and put back from Carmen Woods. Following a Lamar free throw Kirk would finish the quarter with two free throws from Kelsey Marter and an offensive rebound and score at the buzzer from Woods to send Kirk into the final quarter with their biggest lead at 31-21.Olivia Mabry’s steal and lay-in at the 6:45 mark of the 4th quarter got Lamar to within eight points at 31-23 but they would get no closer as Kirk ran off nine straight points to end the contest in what would be their biggest lead of the night at 40-23.
Kelsey Marter led Kirk with 17 points, Carmen Woods added 12, Allye Lundy had 7 and Audra Woods 4.
Olivia Mabry’s 9 points led Lamar, Allison Justus and Miller Watkins had 5 each and Natalie Williams and Madison Lee 2 apiece.
Kirk will take on 4th ranked Oak Hill in the semi-finals today. Oak Hill improved to 23-8 with a 51-38 win over Hillcrest in the early game yesterday.
