4SHOT Sports

The Final Four
Class AAAAA - Redan vs McEachern
By E.R. Wallace/4SHOT Sports
Mar 3, 2005, 04:00 EST

Division AAAAA – Redan vs McEachern

5-A (Girls) Final Four

Redan “Lady Raiders” vs McEachern “Lady Indians”

Arena At Gwinnet – Duluth, GA

Redan gets by McEachern

Arrows flew and tomahawks were thrown in the direction of Redan’s Lady Raiders, but they dodged them all in their semifinal win over the McEachern Lady Indians.

Redan's Anelia Murray goes up for the score.

Redan’s highly recruited junior center, Porsha Phillips, kept Redan in their quest for a state championship ring leading the Lady Raiders to a 56-51 semifinal victory on Thursday at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth.

“It’s a great win for us,” said coach Rhonda Malone. “But it’s not over yet. We’ve got one more obstacle to overcome. That’s what we’re concentrating on now.”

The Lady Raiders shot 24-of-33 from the field and 7-for-17 from the free throw line and limited their turnovers to 18 to come away with the win and advance to the championship round.

Phillips knocked down 25 points, collected seven rebounds and sent eight McEachern shot attempts out to Sugarloaf Parkway to keep the Lady Raiders in control of their destiny.

The Phillips scored eight points in the first period to get the ball rolling for the Lady Raiders equaling McEachern’s total output for the period as Redan jumped out to a 14-8 lead at period’s end.

McEachern's Jordan Jones was shooting three pointers from the rafters.

Courtney Opie opened up the second period scoring first on a mid-range jumper followed by Alexia Adams hitting a three pointer from the spectator seats to keep McEachern in striking distance.

Redan extended their second period lead on the play of Amani Franklin, who took command of the boards pulling down a game high 10 rebounds to keep the Lady Raiders out front 20-16 with 2:39 remaining in the half.

Redan kept the pressure on to keep the Lady Indians scoreless until the last two seconds of the period when Lewzie Beck hit a set shot from the top of the arc as the buzzer sounded ending the half with Redan up 25-19.

McEachern's Courtney Opie and Redan's Quaticqua Johnson face up to do battle

McEachern came out in the third period with a new attitude to tie the game at 33 on a three pointer by Jordan Jones. The period ended in a 35-35 tie with Franklin hitting a running jumper, then McEachern’s Ashlee Jackson getting a pass in the paint from Deidra Jones and going in for the layup.

Redan took a six point lead with 2:43 left in the fourth period with Phillips controlling the boards on defense, while going down court on offense causing havoc underneath with her quick, spinning moves to the basket.

McEachern composed themselves after coach Sheryl Fowler called time to draw up counter attacks to stop the Phillips takeover.

McEachern went on a 10-4 run with 2:43 remaining with Jackson scoring on three pointer and Jones going to the charity line after being fouled by Murray on a three point attempt and knocking down all three to send it to overtime.

Murray took charge of the overtime festivities with a little help from her friends dropping in five of the nine points it took to win the game, while McEachern could only get five total points to end their season.

E.R.’s Picks:

Redan: Porsha “Sleek Porche’ “ Phillips(GDP), Anelia Murray(GDP), Amani Franklin(GDP),

La Teesha Whitley, Quaticqua Johnson, Daneesha Kinsey, Natalie Holder

McEachern: Ashlee Jackson(GDP), Jordan Jones(GDP), Courtney Opie, Deidra Jones, Alexis Adams, Lewzie Beck