Ellington, East Carter will face off in finals rematch

VAN BUREN — It looks like the East Carter Lady Redbirds will get a chance to make things right in the world Saturday.

The No. 2 seeded Lady Redbirds used a gritty final quarter performance to record a 55-47 win over No. 3 Alton in a Class 2 District 2 semifinal game at Van Buren High SchoolThursday evening.

The Lady Redbirds will get a chance to avenge a disappointing home defeat last month to Ellington when the two teams lock horn for a spot in the Class 2 Sweet 16 Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Redbirds will play No. 1 seed Ellington in the 4 p.m. Saturday title game at Van Buren. The victorious Lady Whippets used a monster first half sparked by suffocating defensive play to roll to a 72-31 win over No. 4 Van Buren.

East Carter was led by Parker Golden (17 points), Anna Crowley (16) and Brooklyn Kearbey (15).

“Our maturity this year has improved, because in the past we would never responded (to challenges) because we would’ve rolled over and gotten mad at each other,“ East Carter head coach, Angela Rodgers said. “Hold on, we came out down six (points at halftime) and we came back. They worried me a little bit at halftime. They were staring at me blank — or were they getting themselves together? This whole season we’ve been in some big situations and have come back.

“They have given me that confidence to be a little bit calmer because I’ve seen them do it multiple times. When you do something multiple times, it becomes a habit.”

Alton and East Carter played earlier this season, with the latter winning in overtime and the two teams came out a little herky-jerky as both squads tried to establish their respective rhythm.

Golden continued her recent assault at the tin, Kearbey flashed glimpses of her offensive excellence and East Carter’s defense did enough to lead 15-11 after a quarter.

The second quarter was a bit deja vu as the two teams once were locked in what appeared to be another dramatic affair.

A late Lady Comets burst gave them a late bucket lead and the teams headed to the locker room talk with Alton up 34-28 thanks to a pair of 3-bombs before the buzzer.

The Lady Redbirds started play after intermission with a 9-0 run that included a cool triple in transition to East Carter up 35-34 three minutes out of the half.

The East Carter momentum continued as the lead moved to five points as the team’s height advantage did a better job at controlling the boards and Alton’s interior flow.

Alton finally scored over six minutes into the third quarter, but trailed 39-36 heading into the fourth.

The first couple of minutes of the fourth quarter belied a possible subconscious pressure as the stakes increased for both outfits, knowing that eight good minutes meant at least one more game to play.

The offenses started to hiccup a bit more after two smoother middle quarters but the competitiveness of both did not wane.

Kearbey and Crowley accounted for the only hoops in the first four minutes as East Carter got some breathing room with a 43-36 edge. That bit of distance seemed to put some air under East Carter’s feet moving up by nine.

Alton pushed back, pulling within three points with just over a minute left, but Kearbey forced a Lady Comet turnover and hit free throws to put East Carter up 50-45 with 50 seconds to go.

East Carter officially made a rematch with Ellington possible.

“Last game, we played them coming off Christmas break and we had no practices. We have been working hard and we’ve gotten stronger,” Golden said. “We’ve gotten better on the boards and last time they embarrassed us. Anna is a really strong rebounder and she helped out a lot with me and Breanna (Dohleman). We are ultimately a tougher team now.

“Anna and I are always in a flow and we work really well together on the court.”

Kaylee King (24 points), Sadie Lloyd (19) and Dylan Price (17) paced Ellington while Kinslee Murphy finished with a Van Buren-best 14 points while Madison King contributed six.

“Once by we got after it on defense, they had to come with everything they had,“ Ellington head coach David Burrows said. “It’s win or go home and these girls have been there before. They are not ready to be done and they’re not ready to quit yet.

“They started really playing together tonight more than what we’ve seen lately and they showed up ready to go. Having Dylan back full strength — and she is really getting after it — she’s getting better and we are playing more together every game. I’m looking forward to it.”

Ellington came out blistering to start the contest as they hit from outside an in transition to go up 10-0 in the first two-plus minutes.

It may have looked like an offensive explosion, but the Lady Whippets defense was just as good.

The lead ballooned to 15 points shortly after as Price attacked inside, Kaylee King outside and plenty of other Ellington girls provided a number of contributions toward the early dominance.

Yet, the Lady Dawgs didn’t go chasing their tails in defeat and a late push pulled them within 19-11 after eight minutes.

The second quarter saw Ellington stretch its legs some more as Kaylee King hit a 3 to help a 9-2 run through three minutes to inflate their edge to 28-13.

Van Buren failed to recapture some of that earlier burn that pulled the back and the Lady Whippets eased into a 44-15 halftime lead.

“They played really well defensively and we struggled to take care of the ball,” Van Buren head coach Torrie Ricker said. “We scored four points in the second quarter and we had six missed shots at the rim. We make those, it could be a different game.

“We were in seven ballgames where we lost by 10 or less. Our girls are fighters. I hoped we wouldn’t lose, but that’s a part of life. I couldn’t ask for better and I wouldn’t trade them for a 20-0 team up right now.”

The second half began with Ellington confirming the order of things as they didn’t too much more to build the lead but Van Buren was unable to make a serious move on the deficit as the Lady Whippets used the final 16 minutes to coast to the finish line.

Lloyd had a superlative showing for Ellington — and Burrows said if she gets the confidence, she could “do that every game.”

Lloyd agrees that her girls are figuring out the new-look roster.

“It’s really exciting season started off really rough but we figured out how to work together and help each other out,“ Lloyd said. “(The adversity) what’s probably good for us so we can figure out how to do it and help each other individually. With Dylan back we can do even more as a team. This was a good win.”