Lady Barons In SSAC Tourney
Courtesy of BPC
The Brewton-Parker Lady Baron basketball team competed in the SSAC Tournament last week and made a run into the semifinals. They got wins over Tennessee Southern and William Carey, before falling to Mobile. vs. Tenn Southern
Postseason play began on Wednesday morning for Brewton-Parker Women’s Basketball as the seventh- seeded Lady Barons (18-11) faced the Firehawks (7-19) of Tennessee Southern in the Multiplex at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
BPC extinguished UTS in a 68-57 victory to open the Southern States Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.
“Postseason wins are tough, especially against a coaching legend,” Head Coach Steve Edwards said. “It’s never easy playing at 9 a.m., but we found a way to get it done. We look forward to tossing it up tomorrow against a good William Carey team.” Madison Evans opened the game nearly a minute in for the first score of the game. Nearly three scoreless minutes later, Tennessee Southern tied the game 2-2. Brewton-Parker followed with a 6-2 run over the next few minutes, with Angel McRae, A’Aliyah Clay, and Evans all finding buckets for an 8-4 lead.
The Firehawks leveled the score once again with a pair of free throws and a jumper, leaving 2:11 on the clock. Cori Keats knocked down a threepointer at the 1:45 mark to separate BPC from UTS. The first quarter closed with a 3-2 scoring stretch from the Lady Barons with all five points between both teams being scored from the foul line as BPC held a 14-10 lead.
Brewton-Parker moved to a 19-14 lead after a jumper from McRae and a three from Keats opened the first couple of minutes of the quarter. The Firehawks responded with a 6-3 stretch of scoring to pull within two points with 4:41 left on the clock.
Evans netted a layup at the 3:51 mark for a 24-20 lead, but Tennessee Southern answered with a trey and a fast-break layup over a span of two minutes to claim a 25-24 advantage. Brewton-Parker sealed the quarter shut with another three-pointer from Keats and a pair of layups from McRae for a 31-25 lead at the halftime break.
Treys from Evans and Clay to open the first few moments of the third quarter advanced the Lady Barons to a 37-25 lead. Both teams battled with a 5-5 back-and-forth stretch of play which resulted in another 12-point lead for BPC with 7:01 remaining.
UTS produced a 9-2 run over the next few minutes to pull the deficit down to five points, but Brewton-Parker managed to hold off the Firehawks by outscoring them 7-5 in the final couple of minutes for a 51-44 lead.
The Lady Barons chewed three minutes off the clock and recorded a score from McRae at the 9:15 mark and a trey from Keats at the 7:19 mark to move back to a 12-point lead. Brewton-Parker bested Tennessee Southern 15-13 over the final seven or so minutes.
BPC went 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-12 from the foul line as Clay led with five points while Keats and McRae scored three each. The Lady Barons finished the quarter with a 17-13 advantage and managed to keep the Firehawks away for a 68-57 victory.
Brewton-Parker finished shooting 41.7% (25of-60) from the field, 26.9% (7-of-26) from three, and 45.8% (11-of-24) from the foul line. McRae led the way with a double-double, scoring 18 points and snagging an impressive 17 rebounds to lead the game. Evans and Keats both scored 15 points while Evans notched six rebounds and seven assists. Clay also found double figures with 11 points. The Lady Barons held a narrow 38-37 rebounding margin. BPC’s defense recorded seven steals from 10 Firehawk turnovers. vs. William Carey
Seventh-seeded Brewton- Parker Women’s Basketball continued postseason play on Thursday afternoon with a tough matchup against secondseeded and No. 25-ranked William Carey (Miss.) in Montgomery, Ala.
The Lady Barons (1911) battled the Crusaders (21-4) with early punches in the first and second quarters to help secure a 56-45 victory to advance to the SSAC Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals in the Multiplex at the Cramton Bowl.
“We beat a great team today,” Head Coach Steve Edwards. “I’m proud of our group. We put together a really good defensive plan today and we executed well. William Carey is well coached, and they will be a tough out in the national tournament.”
The Lady Barons started the game slowly as the Crusaders made buckets at the 8:35 mark and the 7:02 mark for a 4-0 lead. Brewton-Parker eventually cracked the scoreless drought five minutes in with a three-pointer from Cori Keats to cut the deficit to one.
After a jumper from William Carey a few moments later, the Lady Barons responded with a 10-0 run to close out the quarter with Angel McRae scoring six and Keonya Mincey finding four points for a 13-6 lead.
Brewton-Parker put together an 11-5 run in the first six and a half minutes of the second quarter to hold a 24-11 lead. Mincey scored another four while Samerria Bryant produced three.
The Lady Barons did well down the stretch, putting together an 8-4 run highlighted by a three from McRae and a trey from Micah Bess in the final seconds before the break. BPC held a convincing 3215 lead at the break after outscoring William Carey 19-9 in the quarter.
William Carey came out of the halftime break hot with an 8-0 run in the first two and a half minutes, cutting the deficit down to 32-23. Mincey scored a pair of shots in the pair at the 6:57 mark and with 5:58 left to move the Lady Barons to a 36-23 advantage.
The Crusaders held Brewton-Parker scoreless in the final few minutes while scoring eight more points to cut the BPC lead down to 36-31 with 10 minutes of regulation to play.
Mincey opened the quarter at the 8:23 mark with a pair of free throws for a 38-31 lead, but William Carey responded with a 7-2 run in the following two minutes of play to pull the deficit down to just two.
A layup of A’Aliyah Clay and a trey from McRae moved BPC to a 45-38 lead and sparked a 12-2 stretch of scoring that helped to cushion the lead to a 12-point advantage with two minutes to play. The Lady Barons held strong in the final couple of minutes, holding the Crusaders to just five points to close out the game and resulting in a 5645 victory.
Brewton-Parker finished shooting 33.9% (19of-56) from the field, 29.2% (7-of-24) from three, and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the foul line. Mincey led the scoring efforts with a game-leading 18 points while snagging two steals as well. McRae produced another doubledouble, scoring 14 points and gathering 15 boards while also dishing out five assists. Clay scored eight and produced four assists. William Carey led 41-38 in rebounding. BPC’s defense recorded nine steals from the 16 turnovers given away by WCU. The Lady Barons held the lead for the remainder of the contest, beginning at the 3:05 mark in the first quarter. vs. Mobile
Brewton-Parker Women’s Basketball continued their run in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament with a semifinal appearance against No. 3-seeded Mobile (Ala.) on Friday afternoon in Montgomery, Ala. The seventh-seeded Lady Barons (19-12) put together three solid quarters of play against the Rams (26-5) but fell short by being beaten out 23-10 in the fourth quarter for a 79-75 loss.
“Today was a good day of basketball,” Head Coach Steve Edwards said. “I feel both teams competed well and that’s how a semifinal game should look. We had a few opportunities late that would like to have back.”
“Mobile made some big plays to beat us,” Edwards mentioned. “I’m proud of my team. We are hoping for an at-large bid to the national tournament. I know we have a good resume, and I look forward to seeing what happens. Either way, I’m proud of my team.”
Mobile opened the game nearly two minutes in with the first bucket before Keonya Mincey put in a response for a quick leveling score at the 7:42 mark. The Rams moved away to a 6-2 lead with 6:37 on the clock before Mincey knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to one point.
Both teams battled in some back-and-forth play which resulted in an 11-10 run led by the Lady Barons as a three-pointer from Cori Keats at the 1:08 mark tied the game at 16 apiece. BPC was led by four points from Micah Bess in the 11-point stretch. Mobile advanced back into control of the lead and held a narrow 4-3 edge in the final minute of the quarter with a 20-19 advantage.
The second quarter proved to be just as tight as the first with the Lady Barons narrowly edging out the Rams in an opening 8-6 stretch of scoring that gave BPC a 27-26 lead with 7:35 on the clock. The opening stretch was led by five points from A’Aliyah Clay and three from Samerria Bryant.
Mobile went on to produce a 10-4 run over the next five minutes or so, moving out to a 36-31 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. A layup from Clay 10 seconds late helped spark an 8-4 run for BPC where the Lady Barons leveled the score twice. The run was led by five points from Clay as the Lady Barons went 2-of-4 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line to close the half down 40-39.
Brewton-Parker came out of the halftime break swinging hard and landing heavy punches to take command of the lead early. The Lady Barons went on an 11-4 run to open the quarter with Keats catching fire for nine points while shooting 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first two and a half minutes, giving BPC a 50-44 advantage.
Mobile answered with a 6-0 run over the next 73 seconds to equalize the score, 50-50 with 6:35 to play in the quarter. A free throw from Mincey at the 5:25 mark helped reclaim the lead for the Lady Barons and sparked an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to boost BPC to a 58-50 lead.
The quarter closed in a tight 7-6 stretch led by the Lady Barons with five points coming from Mincey and two from Clay as Mincey knocked in a buzzer-beater to put BPC up 65-56. Brewton-Parker dominated the quarter, outscoring Mobile 26-16.
Mobile did a great job in response to open the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run to eventually claim a 70-69 lead with six minutes to play. Madison Evans led BPC with all four points in the opening few minutes.
A free throw from Evans at the 4:57 mark leveled the score at 70-70. After going down three points, Brewton-Parker tied the game once again with a clutch three-pointer from Mincey. The Lady Barons found themselves tied once again at the 2:52 mark with a pair of free throws from Evans falling through the net for a 75-75 scoreline.
With a tie game, Mobile was inspired to move to a 79-75 lead after closing the final three minutes with a 4-0 advantage over BPC. Unfortunately, the Lady Barons were unable to find a score, shooting 0-of-5 down the stretch to give up the loss.
Brewton-Parker finished shooting 40%% (26of-65) from the field, 40.9% (9-of-22) from three, and 60.9% (14-of-23) from the foul line. Mincey led Lady Barons’ scoring efforts with 21 points and was followed by a season-high 16 points from Keats as well as another 16 from Clay. Angel McRae snagged 12 rebounds and was followed by Clay’s eight. The BPC defense recorded just three steals while UM’s defense recorded eight. Mobile led 46-39 in rebounds with two players recording double figures off the glass. Brewton-Parker’s largest lead was nine points with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Brewton-Parker closes out the tournament run with a 19-12 overall record with hopes to potentially earn an at-large berth into the NAIA National Championship.
