Brentwood Academy smothers Baylor girls
NASHVILLE — Not much went Baylor’s way in the opening quarter of its TSSAA Division II-AA girls’ basketball state semifinal at Lipscomb University. It seemed even less went the Lady Red Raiders’ way in the second period. And then there was the second half.
In the end, Baylor was no match Friday for top-ranked Brentwood Academy, which defeated the Lady Raiders 73-31 to advance to today’s championship game against No. 3 Ensworth.
BA (28-2) had beaten ninthranked Baylor in both regular-season meetings in East/ Middle Region play, but neither time by this much.
“Give them credit,” Baylor coach John Gibson said of the Lady Eagles. “They pressured us greatly up underneath. Then we got rattled and it snowballed on us. Once things got going the wrong way, it was hard to get it stopped.”
Makaila Wilson’s 3-point goal from out front at 5:33 of the first quarter broke a tie at 3 and started BA on a 19-5 run. At one point late in the first half, the Lady Eagles led by 28.
Wilson scored her game-high 22 points by making all but one of her 11 shots from the floor, and that was one of her three 3-point shots. But her shooting efficiency didn’t seem near as problematic for the Lady Raiders as their 21 turnovers.
“I think we just tried to get up in our stance and make it tough for them to get into their sets,” BA coach Rhonda Brown said. “And they can get in some really good sets. We just tried to make it tough on them.”
Fourteen of those Baylor turnovers were Lady Eagles steals, which often led to layups.
“We just panicked,” Baylor senior Cheyenne Lindsey said. “We didn’t take our time. We’d practiced this over and over again, then we just got in the game and we panicked. It’s just one of those things you hope would not happen.”
Miss Basketball finalist and South Florida-bound Sydni Harvey contributed 17 points for BA, which has a senior-laden team with four players headed to play in college next season.
Baylor (20-10) was led in scoring by Raegyn Conley’s seven points. She’s one of eight freshmen who played at least some in the game for the Lady Raiders.
Senior Lindsey, who is headed to Florida on a softball scholarship, scored six points and led Baylor with four rebounds. Her classmate, JuToreyia Willis, paced the team with four assists and three steals. Caroline Keller also played in her final game.
“Sometimes you have those days,” Gibson said. “It’ll sting for a while, but in a couple of months they’ll realize how well they did, especially my seniors. They went to three final fours in four years. They won the Best of Preps tournament every year. I’m proud of what the seniors meant to us. We’re going to miss them.”