With the coaches of North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Central Florida – to name a few – looking on, Myrtle Beach and Center Point (Ala.) put on a show.
It took an extra period but in the end the Eagles put up a defensive wall that led to a 71-61 victory.
“I think we kind of hit a wall,” Myrtle Beach Coach Brian Kiper said. “It was a big floor and competing against bigger and stronger athletes than we have all year. I thought we played great up until that point. We gave the game away with missed free throws and missed layups in the last couple of minutes.”
Up 55-48 with about two minutes to go, the Seahawks were unable to put the game as Center Point nailed a three following a missed free throw by Tanisha Brown to draw within four. After Khadijah Sessions missed a free throw with 1:39 left, Center Point’s Dominique Patrick threw up a 3 that bounced around the rim about four times before falling through to get the Eagles within one. Just before the one-minute mark, Sessions got fouled and was shooting two. She missed the first and made the second to put Myrtle Beach up 56-54.
Center Point’s Gabrielle Holston was fouled on the ensuing possession and calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 56 with 50.5 seconds left.
In the overtime, it was all Eagles.
Center Point’s Keonna Farmer took control, scoring eight of her team’s 15 points in the overtime period. Farmer led the Eagles with 25 points.
“Sessions and Brown are a handful,” Center Point coach Ulysses Haynes said. “I know about them because I saw them on the circuit a couple of times. We didn’t play good defense on them until the end. Once we played better defense, I think we were able to keep them in check.”
Sessions had 14 of points and Brown had eight in the first half as the Seahawks trailed by one at the break. In the second half, the Eagles kept Brown somewhat at bay, holding her to a total of 16 points. However, Sessions went off for 21 in the second half and finished the game with a high of 35.
“If we can get a team to play us man, we are going to put them two up top,” Kiper said of Sessions and Brown. “When you start playing teams from out of state, they are going to start keying on those two, so all the other teams now are going to key on them. We need other players to step up and make some shots.”
• CENTER POINT (71) – Keonna Farmer 25, Dominique Patrick 19, Kenya Russell 5, Gabrielle Holston 16, Jaylin Johnson 2, Alexis Baker 2, Allison Borden 2.
• MYRTLE BEACH (61) – Khadijah Sessions 35, Tyrenda Sutton 4, Christina Myers 4, Tanisha Brown 16, Najae Grant 2.
• Halftime: Center Points 29-28. 3-point goals: Center Point 4 (Patrick 4); Myrtle Beach 2 (Sessions 2). Team fouls: Center Point 18, Myrtle Beach 15. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
• Records: Center Point 10-2, Myrtle Beach 6-1.
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