Eric Spruill
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — The No. 4-ranked Edmond Santa Fe girls basketball team got a huge effort from point guard Jimi Blagowsky as the Lady Wolves upset No. 3 Edmond North 52-43 on Friday night.
The win snapped a three-game skid in the series and gave the Lady Wolves a two-game lead in the Metro Conference standings.
“These girls have so much confidence and they believe they are going to win every game. They really believe and Edmond North is a great basketball team. And it helps when you have someone like Jimi leading them out there, a player that goes all out and wants nothing but to be playing in the finals, you have a chance,” Santa Fe head coach Paul Bass said.
Blagowsky scored a game-high 24 points and did her best to lead the team when the Lady Wolves were in early foul trouble. Courtney Walker was silenced in the first half scoring 0 points in the first half after sitting on the bench with two fouls, but stepped it up in the second half when the team charged past North.
The sophomore finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists.
North led 9-3 late in the first quarter when Santa Fe got a big 3-pointer from Ariel Cooper to cut it to three points heading into the second.
Santa Fe got its first lead of the game with 2:21 remaining in the half on a Blagowsky put-back, but North closed the half with a 7-0 run with Elizabeth Donohoe scoring four points and Anna Kimsey draining a three from the corner. The Lady Huskies (11-2) led 24-18 at the break.
Walker opened the third quarter with a quick three, but North got baskets from TaNita Dewberry and Donohoe to make it 28-21. Raven Gonzaque answered with a three for the Lady Wolves as Santa Fe prepared to make a run.
Blagowsky hit a three with 3:48 left in the half, followed by a driving layup from Walker to tie the game at 31-all. Sophia Mahmoodjanloo tied it at 33 moments later, and Blagowsky drained another three with :09 remaining to give Santa Fe a 36-33 lead going into the fourth.
Leading by one early in the fourth, Gonzaque made it a two possession game with another trey, and Walker tied up Kimsey setting up a basket by herself to make it 41-35.
The Lady Wolves made it a 10-point lead with 1:23 on a pair of free throw’s by Blagowsky as North never threatened.
Donohoe led the Lady Huskies with 19 points but was never a constant threat as she was limited on her touches.
“We doubled her a lot, we never let her get into a rhythm, most of her points came at the free throw line. She still had 19 points, she’s a great player,” Bass said.
“The difference from last year to this year is our bench has grown up. Our sophomores are not sophomores anymore. Cooper and Raven made some big plays tonight, and I thought Sophia had some quality minutes. We just have a lot more athletes than we did a year ago.”
Gonzaque finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Mahmoodjanloo had two points and eight boards.
The Lady Wolves will host Putnam City on Tuesday night, while North looks to rebound as they travel to Putnam City West.
