Simpson advances to take on Leake

Southern Sports & Travel

The third ranked Simpson Lady Cougars jumped out to a quick 16-2 lead over sixth ranked Oak Hill last night in Class AA State Tournament play in Grenada but had to stave off several Lady Raider runs to eventually take a 54-37 win.

Simpson junior Brittany Gardner led all scorers with 18 points as the Lady Cougars improved to 27-9 and advance to battle six time defending state champion Leake on Friday at 1:00.

Simpson looked to put Oak Hill away early as the Lady Cougars had a dominating first quarter of play.

After Oak Hill’s Shay Atkins tied the game at 2-2 four Simpson players contributed to a 14-0 run that propelled the Lady Cougars to a 16-2 lead with 3:09 left in the opening quarter but Oak Hill started forcing Simpson turnovers and the Lady Raiders began showing signs of life.

(Above) Auguste Knight (#24) of Simpson drives on Oak Hill's Anna Ready (#22)

Oak Hill closed the first quarter with a Maegan Ellis bucket in the paint and two Tori Ellis free throws to grab some much needed momentum down 18-8.

After two Brittany Gardner free throws pushed the Simpson lead to 20-8 to start the second quarter Oak Hill cashed in on Simpson turnovers.

A 13-0 run capped by two Maegan Ellis free throws gave Oak Hill their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 12 seconds remaining in the first half of play but the Lady Raiders wouldn’t enjoy their only lead of the night very long as Abby Dunston canned two free throws to close out the half with Simpson clinging to a 22-21 lead.

Simpson pushed their lead back to three points at 24-21 on an Auguste Knight drive and lay-in at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter but Oak Hill would pull to within two points on two occasions during the first two minutes of the quarter, the last on a Tori Ellis jumper from the elbow that made it 26-24 with 5:48 left.

Simpson then fired off eight straight points. Auguste Knight cashed in on a driving basket followed by a Brittany Gardner offensive rebound and put back at the 4:04 mark to stretch the lead to 30-24.

(Above) Simpson's Abby Dunston (#14) looks to feed the ball to Brittany Gardner (#34)

Gardner nailed two free throws and Lauren Griffin served up an assist to Gardner as Simpson stretched back to a ten point lead at 34-24 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

Anna Ready drained a 3-pointer from the wing to close the quarter and pull Oak Hill to a single digit deficit at 34-27 with one quarter left to play.

Oak Hill would get to within six points of Simpson at 36-30 on an Anna Ready 18 foot jumper at the 6:41 mark of the fourth quarter but the Lady Raiders would get no closer.

Simpson closed out the remaining six minutes with a huge 18-7 run to take a 54-37 win to advance to the semi-finals.

Simpson was led by Brittany Gardner with 18 points, Lauren Griffin added 10, Auguste Knight and Abby Dunston 9 each and Hallie Stubbs and Kasey McWilliams had 4 apiece.

Oak Hill (27-10) was led by Tori Ellis with 16 points, Maegan Ellis and Anna Ready 8 each, Shay Atkins 4 and Susan Mitchell 1.

.Post Game with Simpson head coach Dave Granville

.