McGill-Toolen’s Kam Wright tries to manuever for a basket against Park Crossing Wednesday in the Class 6A South Regional girls finals at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum. Wright scored 10 points but the Jackets fell to the No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds 61-38. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Top-ranked Park Crossing went on an 18-6 run in the third period to take control of the game and went on to defeat McGill-Toolen 61-38 Wednesday in the Class 6A South Regional girls final at Garrett Coliseum.
The Yellow Jackets (23-6) — who came into the game with a 14-game winning streak — stayed close for a half, trailing just 19-18 at intermission, but couldn’t overcome the Thunderbirds’ advantages in points off turnovers (19-8), second-chance points (16-6) and fast-break points (12-2) on the way to their most lopsided defeat this season.
“Those are the things that we talked about,” McGill-Toolen coach Carla Berry said. “We knew they were a team that is really, really good in transition. They score off second-chance points and off turnovers, so those were the key things that we wanted to manage. And I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half but we kind of let it get away from us in the second half. We allowed them to play to their strengths. I also thought their pressure defensively rattled us a little bit in terms of getting into our offense and doing the things that we do well — getting it into the post, playing off the dribble a little bit better, creating offense for the team. I just thought we were stagnant without enough movement offensively.”
Kam Wright led the Jackets with 10 points but McGill-Toolen, which led early for only 11 seconds, was 0 of 7 from three-point range and shot just 38% from the field.
“We had a really good season and I’m proud of my team,” said Berry, who returns three starters next season.
Saniya Jackson led Park Crossing (31-1) with 22 points.
