Obama’s comeback nets win

Obama Academy is not used to trailing a City League opponent at halftime, but the Eagles went to the locker room after an uncharacteristically sloppy two quarters Sunday at the Petersen Events Center trailing Allderdice by four points.

“Trailing at halftime, we told them that they need to relax and we have to take care of the ball,” Obama Academy coach Monique McCoy said.

“Turnovers killed us, and we didn’t go in on them. We were very calm and told them the first half was over with.”

Obama Academy didn’t waste any time putting that half in the rear-view mirror, opening the third quarter with a 12-3 run to take the lead for good as the Eagles rolled to their fourth consecutive City League championship with a 64-53 victory against the Dragons.

“This win for me means everything,” Obama senior star Taylor Stewart said.

“Last year, we lost a lot of seniors, and [because of that] here were a lot of people that thought we couldn’t accomplish this.

“As a senior, just watching us grow into the team that we grew into, it means a lot to me.”

Stewart was a huge factor for Obama Academy

Selected as the player of the game, Stewart finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Those rebounds helped the Eagles grab a significant 51-36 advantage on the boards.

“It came down to offensive rebounding on their part and us not being able to get a defensive rebound,” Allderdice coach Ellen Guillard said.

“Our biggest starter is around 5-foot-7 and they have two or three girls that are 5-10 or 6-feet.

“That’s what it came down to.”

While Stewart took care of the bulk of the load inside, Michaela Porter elevated her gam in the second half to help Obama Academy pull away to the victory.

Largely ineffective after she picked up three fouls in the fist half, the senior forward took command with 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half and also helped out on the boards with 11 rebounds.