Southern
Sports & Travel
The
fourth ranked Prairie View Lady Spartans overcame a seven point halftime
deficit to narrowly defeat ninth ranked Kirk 43-39 last night in round two action
of the Class AA North State Tournament taking place at Leake Academy.
Kristen
Oliphant and Victoria Simmons combined to score 25 points as Prairie View
improved to 26-5 and advance to take on third ranked Oak Hill this afternoon in
semi-final action.
(Above) Prairie View's Sarah Cammarasana (#12) hits a jumper with 2:53 left in the game
Prairie
View had things going their way early on in the contest. The Lady Spartans took
a 5-2 lead following a Kaylah Hobbs basket, plus one, two minutes into the
first quarter.
Kirk
would grab the lead at 7-6 when Beth Tillman drained a 3-pointer from the top
of the key at the 4:51 mark but Prairie View would answer with an 8-2 run.
Victoria
Simmons converted a bucket in the paint and at the 3:38 mark a Simmons steal
and lay-in gave the Lady Spartans a 10-7 advantage.
Prairie
View increased their lead to 13-7 on an Erika Guerrero 3-pointer from the wing
and the Lady Spartans would close out the opening quarter holding a 14-9 edge.
Prairie
View would grab their biggest lead at 17-11 on a Sarah Cammarasana 3-pointer
from the corner with 6:32 remaining in the half but Kirk would begin to pick up
momentum.
Still
down 19-15 with 3:46 remaining in the first half Kirk would take charge of the game.
Daniella
Dipado scored from close range and Hayden Grantham followed with an offensive
rebound and put back, plus one, to give the Raiderettes a 20-19 lead.
Kirk
would take advantage of Prairie View miscues as Beth Boxx turned a Lady Spartan
turnover into a transition bucket to up the lead to 22-19.
Daniella
Dipado and Hayden Grantham closed out the half hitting two free throws apiece
to give Kirk a 26-19 lead and cap a 15-2 Raiderette run.
(Above) Prairie View's Victoria Simmons gets a piece of a shot by Beth Boxx (#24) of Kirk
As
well as Kirk played in the second quarter it was just the opposite in the third
as the Raiderettes were held scoreless.
Prairie
View pulled even with Kirk at 26-26 following a Kristen Oliphant 3-pointer and
a Jay Hicks basket in the paint with 2:56 left in the quarter. The Lady
Spartans would regain the lead on two Victoria Simmons free throws with 3
seconds remaining in a quarter in which Prairie outscored Kirk 9-0.
The
Prairie View run and the Kirk drought continued into the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Kristen
Oliphant drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to open the quarter and Victoria
Simmons hit a 16 foot jumper to push the Lady Spartan lead to 33-26.
Simmons
would take advantage of a Kirk turnover with a lay-in to give Prairie View their
biggest lead at 35-26 with 6:04 remaining in regulation.
Kirk
would end the Prairie View 16-0 run when Hayden Grantham was fouled attempting
a 3-pointer and converted on two of three free throws. Grantham would can two
more free throws less than a minute later to trim the deficit to 35-30 but Kirk
was unable to cash in on three consecutive Prairie View turnovers and saw the
lead balloon back to nine points at 39-30 as Victoria Simmons sank two free
throws and Sarah Cammarasana scored in the paint with 2:53 left in the contest.
Kristen
Oliphant lead Prairie View with 13 points, Victoria Simmons added 12, Sarah
Cammarasana 5, Jay Hicks and Kaylah Hobbs 4 each, Erika Guerrero 3 and Dani
Anderson 2.
Kirk
closes out the season with a 25-10 mark and was led by Hayden Grantham who had
a game high 14 points, Lauren Snyder and Daniella Dipado had 8 each, Beth
Tillman 5 and Beth Boxx 4.
.
Post Game with Prairie View Head Coach Ed Bain
