Jeff Harrison
The Edmond Sun
CATOOSA — After seeing the No. 2 Edmond North girls strike out last year at the Class 6A State Tournament, Elizabeth Donohoe couldn’t wait for another shot. And the junior made sure this trip was a more memorable one as she poured in 23 points to lead the Lady Huskies past Norman North 53-42 in the first round of the state tournament at Catoosa High School.
“We were here last year and of course we didn’t win it, but we won this one and we’re really excited and ready to play Norman,” Donohoe said.
The Lady Huskies will meet up with No. 3 Norman tonight at 7:30 in the Class 6A State semifinals at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. The Lady Tigers, who eliminated the Lady Huskies in the first round a year ago, advanced to the semifinals with a win over Memorial on Thursday afternoon.
All that excitement got to Donohoe early in the game as she was forced to sit much of the first quarter. But when she reentered the game in the second she was a one-player wrecking crew as she scored 13 of her 23 points in the period helping North to a double digit lead at halftime.
“I think I was a little overexcited and nervous and I was turning it over and not taking good shots,” Donohoe said. “So coach (Kevin Korstjens) took me out to settle me down a bit and we just pulled together as a team and won it.”
The Lady Huskies got a lot of production out of the rest of their lineup. Anna Kimsey got her team rolling early as she scored eight in the first quarter and finished with 12 points. Emily Davis added nine points off the bench and TaNita Dewberry had eight.
After trailing 40-29 at the half, the Norman North girls started out the second half strong. Payge Wilson and Andee Wayne hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a seven-point game. But the rally quickly fizzled as Donohoe hit a couple of baskets helping North regain a double digit lead.
“We got real sloppy in the third quarter but we kept getting stops and finally cleaned it up a bit,” North coach Kevin Korstjens said.
The Lady Huskies continued to pull away in the fourth quarter. Davis capped a 10-1 run with a basket at the 3:04 mark to put North on top 52-32. Madison Marquardt hit a couple of treys late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Lady Huskies.
Wilson led Norman North in scoring with 13 points off the bench, while Marquardt had 11 including three 3-pointers.
