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William Henry Shaw Christmas Tournament: Lady Red Devils reverse last year's title game result against Kendrick

Published: December 31, 2011 Story by: Jeff Henderson

Friday’s girls championship of the William Henry Shaw Christmas Tournament was a rematch of last year’s title game between Kendrick and Central-Phenix City. The outcome, though, was different, as Central dominated the middle two quarters to beat Kendrick 50-46. The Cherokees did their best in the first quarter to make this year’s result the same as 2010, jumping out to a 16-8 lead at the first break. Central coach Carolyn Wright, who has seen her share of Christmas tournament championship games in her 20 years at the helm, made adjustments. “We didn’t match up well,” she said. “We’d leave one girl open in the backcourt. We made these adjustments on the defensive end, and it worked out pretty well.” The proof of that is in the box score. Kendrick combined to score 30 points in the first and fourth quarters but just 16, eight in each, in the second and third quarters. “The defense made the difference,” Wright said. “I’m really happy with the way the girls reacted to the pressure out there.” One of those players is Jimechia Banks, who had six steals in the game on her way to being named the tournament’s MVP on the girls side. “We know we can play with anybody,” Banks said outside the locker room of Columbus

State’s Lumpkin Center. “We wanted this game, and we worked hard for it. This was a great team effort.” The team effort is exhibited in the balanced scoring for the Lady Red Devils. Ju’el Beasley led the offensive effort with 13 points, including hitting five of six attempts from the free-throw line. Portia Watkins was the only other Central player in double figures, scoring 10, four of those in the fourth quarter. Last year’s game, a 53-41 Kendrick victory that saw the Cherokees pull away after leading by just a point after three quarters, wasn’t far from Wright’s mind. “We’re certainly a different team,” Wright, who says this is her second Christmas tournament title, said. “But I’m still really proud. We have good ballhandlers. We can play this kind of game. We just needed to stay patient and not be in such a rush to pass the ball. “We are going to rejoice on this win. Last year, they were

the ones to beat us out for the championship, so this time we were going to try to leave no stone unturned,” said Wright, who was decked out in all red to receive the championship trophy and commemorative game ball. Khalia Lawrence was the most aggressive and most effective of Kendrick’s players, scoring 22 points and grabbing five steals. Sierra Porter had eight points for the Cherokees and a game-high 11 rebounds. Things don’t get any easier for Central. The Lady Red Devils play host to Hardaway, the only team to trip them up in 17 games season, next Saturday. Hardaway beat Central 53-48 at home Dec. 10. Central got revenge with a 58-47 victory Thursday in this tournament.

“We’re going to do what we do best,” Wright said about the game next Saturday. “We’ll run our full-court press and our fast-paced offense. It’s carried us this far, and we’ll just keep going. We’ll stick with it.” Kendrick 16 8 8 14--46 Central-PC 8 14 16 12--50 Kendrick (46) Khalia Lawrence 22, Tower 2, Porter 8, Jack 2, Merritt 2, Farley 4, Cheatham 6. Central-Phenix City (50) Ju’el Beasley 13, Portia Watkins 10, McMillon 3, Thomas 5, Webb 4, Cox 5, Shanks 1, Spencer 4. Team records: Kendrick 6-4, Central 16-1.