| OC girls fall twice | | Posted: Monday, December 24, 2012 7:00 pm
| A close win put the Obion Central girls in the semifinals of the Heritage Bank Holiday Classic.
Two narrow losses kept the Lady Rebels from taking the tournament championship and consolation prize in the Calloway County event in Murray over the weekend.
After beating Jackson South Side 54-50 in overtime Friday, OC saw its 11-game winning streak snapped in a 41-39 loss to Ridgeway Saturday. Whtley County (Ky.) denied the Lady Rebs the third-place trophy with a 47-45 win later Saturday. The county locals went 2-2 in the event all totaled.
Obion Central, Class 2A state runnersup last season, will now take a 12-3 record into a short Christmas break.
On Friday, OC scored five of the six points tallied in the extra session to move into the semis after JSS had rallied to tie the game in regulation.
Brandi Goodman, despite fouling out in the OT, led Central with 21 points. Paige Hicks added 14 and the Lady Rebels won despite missing 18 (26-of-44) free throws.
They also survived despite losing Ali McEwen, who suffered a concussion.
Against Ridgeway (9-2), OC battled back in the fourth quarter — getting as close as the final margin via a 3-pointer by Rachel Jones and two Goodman free throws. Central could not get a game-tying or winning shot off at the end, though, and lost for the first time since the opening week of the season.
Goodman again led the way with 15 points, while Hicks pitched in 12.
Central was guilty of 18 turnovers and again struggled from the charity stripe, making just 7-of-15.
In the consolation game Saturday afternoon, a 12-5 rally in the fourth quarter — capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Goodman — brought Obion Central from behind and into a 45-all deadlock.
An OC foul with 2.2 seconds left, though, led to a pair of game-winning free throws by Kandace Craig.
Whitley County (9-1) made seven 3-pointers in the game, and Central was again haunted by free throw shortcomings with a 13-for-22 showing.
Goodman had 19 markers, Hicks eight and Jones seven. Published in The Messenger 12.24.12 | | | | |
