2006-07 GHSA State Championships
St. Pius vs. Marist (4-A Finals)
By Rod "Kut" Freeman
Mar 3, 2006, 11:36 EST

Golden Lions Again and Again

Cain too much in the middle.

Gwinnett Arena – Norcross, GA

When it comes to rivals, there is non more exciting than the class 4-A programs of St. Pius X Golden Lions versus the Marist War Eagles. Whether it’s football, baseball or golf, these two schools gets it on. St. Pius enters the game winning the 2004 4-A state championship and Marist enter looking to win their first in school history. St. Pius would be lead by 6’9 junior All-American Kelley Cain and Marist by Senior guard Tiffany Davis, along with junior Drey Wingo. Not that the scene is set, “Lets get it on”.

The tip would go to Marist but the first basket to Kelley Cain. The 6’5 Junior would tower over the small defenders on a off the back board basket to get things started 2-0. Marist senior leader Tiffany Davis would look to score baseline but Cain wouldn’t having it in the paint as she sent it flying back out. After the block, the Golden Lions would run the floor and Kelley would score her second basket of the game, leading to a Marist timeout 4-0.  After the timeout, the super freshman Morgan Toles would go to work on a crossover dribble and sank a basket to give St. Pius a 6-0 lead. Mean while Kelley would be snatch down her 5^th rebound of the first period. The Lady War Eagles would finally scratch the board on a long three pointer from Kristine Gleason 7-3. The Lady Golden Eagles would then close out the first period on a 6-2 run (St. Pius 13 Marist 5).

In the second period, Kelley would continue to dominate in the paint and on the boards. Kelley would grab her 15^th rebound and score 10 straight points to put St. Pius up 25-7 with 1:02 to go before the half. The score at the half St. Pius 25 Marist 9.

Kelley Cain Tracker: 14 points 15 rebounds 4 blocks, “That was just at the half”.

Tiffany Davis would finally get her first 2 points of the game on a drive and lay up with 4:57 into the second period to improve things by 16 points 13-29. Cain wasn’t the only one doing the scoring for St. Pius as Jane Fleming would score her 6^th point of the game on a fastbreak lay up to put the Golden Lions up by 20 points 33-13 with 3:33 left in the third period. The end of the third period St. Pius 38 Marist 16.

Kelley Cain Tracker: 18 points 20 rebounds 5 blocks 

Down by 22 points, the Lady War Eagles would still have some fight in them as Fraderica Miller would score on a lay up to start the fourth period. Drey Mingo would convert a free-throw after a lay up basket to give the Lady War Eagles a little hope. Just when you think things were getting better Fleming and Morgan Toles would strike back with lay ups and free throws. With 2:10 left in the game the War Eagle faithful would begin to realize that this year belongs to the Lady Golden Lions.

Final Score: St. Pius 56 Marist 36

Congratulatons to both teams on a job well done!

Scoring Recap

St. Pius

Kelley Cain 18 points, 20 points 5 blocks, Krista Tate 14 points, Jane Fleming 13 points and Morgan Toles 8 points.

Marist

Andrea McGuirt 10 points, Fraderica Miller 6 points, Kristine Gleason, Tiffany Davis and Drey Mingo all with 5.

© Copyright 2006 by 4SHOT Sports