14U Nationals Tournament – Day Three
Despite missing starting guard Allie Clement, the 14U Firecrackers advanced to the last quarter-final stages of the AAU National Tournament with a hard-fought win over the WNC Lady Royals.
Game 4 Recap: Won 55 – 37 vs. WNC Lady Royals
The Firecrackers advance to the Elite 8 with a quality win over WNC Lady Royals (North Carolina). After such a physical game the evening before, and with the team starting to look like a mash unit, the decision was made to promote the starting backcourt from the 13U team. This delivered immediate dividends as Camille Giardina (17pts) and Sarah Clement (5pts) providing a much needed spark after the loss of Allie Clement (most likely for the rest of the tournament). Fresh off their run to the AAU Finals, they never missed a beat as they combined for 22 points.
Alisha Starbird played with a heavily bandaged right hand (shooting hand) and was limited offensively, but provided good minutes on the defensive end of the court. The Firecracker inside players dominated the paint on both ends of the floor, with Nina Davenport (7 rebounds) and Olivia Smith (9 rebounds) leading the way with 9pts each.
The game was close the entire first half as the Firecrackers struggled to find their rhythm without the leadership of the elder Clement. They clung to a slim 2pt lead at the half. The start of the second half proved to be the turning point, as the Firecracker coaching staff decided to go with a small lineup of Ashley Briggs (4pts), Camille Giardina, Sarah Clement, Sam Frost and one post player. They changed-up from their traditional half court man-to-man defense, to an aggressive, half court trap. This adjustment saw the 2pt half-time lead grow to 18pts in the first 7 minutes. In fact the defense was so locked down, the Firecrackers held the Lady Royals scoreless for the first 10:42 of the second half.
Once again it was a full team effort with contributions from all players. Everyone on the team got in the scoring column. Brianne Maloney picked up where she left off night before and provided strong leadership on the defensive end of the court. Olivia Shaw continued to struggle offensively after her illness just prior to Nationals, but as she continues to gain strength the Firecracker coaches are expecting her to give the team a big boost as the tournament continues. Bailey Cote, with her new found “internal fire”, is providing quality minutes to the depleted team.
Coach Briggs is very proud of the team in the way the girls have responded to adversity. There is a lot of fight left in this team and they will bring it tomorrow with the opportunity to get to the Final Four.