Avondale wins Region 5-3A title

4SHOT Sports

Girls Hoops - 2006
Avondale wins Region 5-3A title
By Larry Williams\4SHOT Sports
Feb 11, 2006, 07:23 EST

Region 5-3A Championships

Championship Game
Avondale vs. Towers

Avondale routs Towers
Stroud and Mealing lead the way
Southside High School, Atlanta, GA

Avondales's Angelica"Jelly" Mealing pushes the ball up the court.

A couple of weeks ago Avondale beat Towers by 20 points to avenge their only regional loss of the season, but just to make sure that Towers got the message Avondale pounded the lifeless “Lady Titans” 64-29 to capture the Region 5-3A Championship.

Tower’s had no answer for Avondale’s Nicole Stroud. The 6-3 junior All-Star center went off for 11 first-quarter points as the “Lady Blue Devils” repeatedly pounded the ball inside to her. PG-Angelica Mealing scored a pair of baskets and Shady Woolcock drilled a three-pointer as Avondale billed up an 18-7 lead.

Tower’s didn’t even show up in the 2^nd quarter scoring only 1 point, meanwhile “Jelly”, Angelica Mealing started spreading the jam with some nice moves on her way to a 9 point quarter. At the half Avondale held a commanding 35-8 lead.

Towers Quanneisha Perry goes up against Avondale's Jasmine Hall.

Tower’s All-Star Quanneisha Perry must of gotten tired of being pushed around and started finally doing some pushing of her own scoring 8 points to put a little life into the “Lady Titans”. Avondale kept up their intensity and started pounding the ball back inside to Stroud, who responded. Woolcock knocked down her 2^nd three-pointer and Charvez Holmes made a couple of strong power drives to the basket as Avondale all but put the game away, leading 53-20 at the end of the 3^rd quarter.

Perry finished off the game with another solid quarter for Towers it didn’t make a dent in the lead. Jasmine Hall drilled a pair of jumpers for Avondale and they went on to a lopsided win to capture the Region 5-3A Championship.

Scoring Recap
Nicole Stroud scored a game high 22 points and blocked or altered several shots to lead Avondale. Angelica Mealing added 18 and Shaday Woolcock chipped in with 10 points. Quanneisha Perry scored 15 points to pace Towers.

3rd Place Game

Southside vs. Westlake

Westlake captures 3^rd place
Lanier paces Westlake with 15 points
Southside High School, Atlanta, GA

Westlake's Tammy Lanier scored 15 points.

While the “Lady Lasers” from Southside H.S. had the home court advantage they were at a disadvantage playing without star guard Shameka McCurty and Westlake with their two good-looking junior guards Gabrielle Johnson and Tammy Lanier took advantage of it as they really pushed the ball up and down the court.

Southside knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the 1^st quarter to stay close, but they had no answer for Westlake’s promising 6-2 freshman Tamika Willis who scored 8 points as the “Lady Lions” took a 14-10 lead.

Willis continued to be a hand full in the 2^nd quarter scoring 4 more points but Southside hung in there as Jasmine Cutter started picking up the slack for McCurty absence. At the half Westlake held a slight 24-19.

Westlake turned up their defensive pressure in the 3^rd quarter forcing

Southside's Jessica Miles and Porcha Anderson sandwich Weslake Fr.-Tamika Willis.

Southside into some untimely turnovers and it didn’t help that the “Lady Lasers” also had a tough time putting the ball in the basket either. Westlake started seizing control of the boards, especially on the offensive end where Courtney Haskins started throwing her weight around. Haskins hit 4 free-throws in the quarter and Lanier drilled a three-pointer as Westlake increased their lead to 36-25.

Southside’s Ashley Dix hit her 2^nd three-pointer of the game as the “Lady Lasers” made a littler run at the start of the 4^th quarter but Westlake had just a little too much fire power as they started pulling away. Down the stretch the “Lady Lions” hit 8 of 13 free-throws to come away with a 50-34 win and the 3^rd place region throphy. Both teams move on to the 1^st round of the state playoffs this upcoming weekend.

Scoring Recap
Tammy Lanier scored 15 points and Tamika Willis added 12 points to pace Westlake. Southside was led by former Crim H.S. star Brittney Woods who scored 9 points and teammate Ashley Dix finished with 8 points.