By Javon Manning | For the Daily Journal
MARTINSVILLE
A Class A sectional championship matchup between Greenwood Christian and Eminence saw the host Eels pull away in the second half for a 52-26 victory on Saturday evening.
Eminence took a 7-4 lead early on in the first quarter. It was only a few minutes later, however, when things began to shift in a negative direction for GCA. Eminence spaced the floor well and played at a much quicker pace, resulting in two impressive 3-point baskets from Danica Myers and Sophia Saucerman that extended the lead to 13-4.
Greenwood Christian (5-18) responded well in the second period, playing a much more confident style of basketball. Senior Sydney Waldron led the Cougars in scoring during the quarter, earning all eight of her team’s points.
“Sydney’s been the leader of this team for two solid years, and just the center and heart of it,” GCA coach Tiffany Smith-Clements said. “I can’t imagine this team without her.”
GCA was only down by eight points at the half, 20-12.
Eminence’s Saucerman and Morghan Taylor were terrific at rebounding the ball and made numerous shots down low. The Cougars had difficulty defending those threats and got caught up in foul trouble midway through the third period.
Meanwhile, the Eels amped up their pressure on the defensive end of the ball, playing tight man-to-man and switching players as needed. This in turn forced GCA to play quicker when it didn’t want to, and the Cougars rushed many of their shots.
“I think we could have slowed down as a whole because we were very rushed, and that caused a lot of turnovers and travels,” Waldron said. “The sectional tournament atmosphere is a lot to handle.”
Although Greenwood Christian was only down by six with 3:08 left in the third quarter, their chance to get back into the game was upended by several missed free throws. By that point, Eminence had also committed its share of fouls, and both teams ended the period with a total of eight apiece.
Waldron landing in foul trouble, though, proved a difficult hurdle for an otherwise young GCA team to overcome, and by the time the third quarter was over, Eminence had stretched its lead to 36-22.
“When we put our press on and Sydney picked up her third foul of the game, that tied up our hands defensively and being able to stay in the press,” Smith-Clements said. “We were hoping that we could speed [Eminence] up and get some steals and quick baskets, but it didn’t work out that way because of all the fouls. We ended up having to pull the press back.”
The Eels (19-7) desired to leave no room for a comeback, outscoring the Cougars 16-4 in the fourth to wrap things up.
Though the victory was awarded to its opponent, GCA had plenty to be proud of.
“Those were a lot of freshmen on the floor tonight,” Smith-Clements said. “That’s really exciting to have six of them that have played the entire season like that. We had injuries — two ACLs and a broken foot — but the freshmen stepped up, and they’ve played pretty much the entire season. Even though the score was a little lopsided, they fought hard. I’m happy with where we ended up, and I’m excited about next year.”
