Eric Spruill
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — The No. 3-ranked Santa Fe girls basketball team may have swept No. 2 Edmond North during the regular season, but it was the Lady Huskies that punched their ticket to state first, knocking off the Lady Wolves 57-50 in the Area Finals at Memorial on Thursday night.
It was matchup of two of the top players in the state, and neither disappointed. North’s Elizabeth Donohoe finished with 32 points, while Santa Fe’s Courtney Walker finished with 31 points and seven rebounds.
The only difference was Donohoe had some help from her teammates. Walker scored 22 points in the first half, as the teams went into the break deadlocked at 24-24.
“I think we focused better and that was the difference,” North head coach Kevin Korstjens said. “They got up on us last time and it’s too hard to play catch up against a team like this. We weren’t going to let that happen this time.”
Since that loss to Santa Fe the Lady Huskies have won 15 of the last 16 quarters played, including three of the four on Thursday.
They also won the battle of the boards by 11.
“That was the difference tonight. Courtney had a great game, but we didn’t help her in the post. Our post players combined for like five rebounds,” Santa Fe head coach Paul Bass. “And they killed us on the inside on their inbound plays. I think they scored 8-10 points there, maybe more. They came out with more energy than us.”
Walker scored her team’s first 15 points, and outscored North 13-12 in the first quarter. Despite being in first half foul trouble, the Lady Huskies still managed to tie it at the half.
And it was the third quarter that proved to be the difference as North won that eight minute stretch 19-10.
“All I paid attention to was trying to get up two possessions, and three possessions. The girls never panicked. Donohoe played very well, and I thought TaNita Dewberry hit some big shots and her no-look to Elizabeth was a big play,” Korstjens said.
Dewberry finished with 12 points, while Emily Davis had seven.
Santa Fe has been in this situation before, and Bass is not worried about getting his team ready for Saturday’s game against the Putnam City Original/Yukon winner.
“I’ve been in this position quite a few times and that’s what I was trying to get across to this team. They’re just so young. What I keep trying to tell them is about our 2006 team that lost this game and came back to win the consolation final, then win two games at state,” Bass said. “It’s possible.”
Freshman point guard Cameerah Graves finished with 10 points, while Daisha Gonzaque had six.
“Walker scored 22 in the first half, so that was disappointing, but she’s a great player. She hit some tough shots, though. I think she worked for every basket she scored,” Korstjens said.
Santa Fe plays the PCO/Yukon winner at 1:30 at Harrah High School on Saturday.
