Eric Spruill
The No. 6-ranked Memorial girls basketball team erased a seven-point halftime deficit on Saturday night to knock off No. 9-ranked North 47-38 to win The Edmond Open at Memorial high school.
“We really rushed things in the first half, and I thought we just needed to be patient. I felt that if we could just slow down and execute, we would get opportunities. That was the big key in the third quarter, and we slowly chipped away,” Memorial head coach Shane Coffey said.
Madison Johnson started the comeback with a 3-pointer on the first offensive series of the second half, to cut North’s lead to 24-20. But Elizabeth Donohoe answered back with a basket on the other end.
Memorial’s Taylor Anderson took over the final 12 minutes of the contest, where she scored 11 of her team-high 17 points.
Anderson scored five-straight points as the Lady Bulldogs chiseled North’s lead down to 29-27 with 3:45 left in the third.
And following a pair of free throws by Donohoe, Memorial’s Rachel Russell made it a one-point game with a three pointer from the right wing, making it 31-30. Paige Locke tied the game at 31-all heading into the fourth, going 1-of-2 at the charity stripe.
Memorial (4-1) took its first lead since the 2:56 mark in the first quarter, when Katy Allen knocked down a jumper with 7:19 remaining, it was a lead they would not relinquish.
Anderson scored six more points in the fourth, and the Lady Bulldogs made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
“Senior leadership is such a big thing, Edmond North is a great, great team, and I want you to know that. Our seniors stepped up, and knew how to pull it out in a big game,” Coffey said. “Taylor has been a part of our program for four years. We knew she could step up and shine, and she’s done that in this tournament.”
Donohoe was equally impressive, scoring a game-high 19 points. For North (4-1), it was the teams first loss of the season.
“We didn’t do anything wrong, Memorial’s a great team. I’m not disappointed in anything we did, I’m just disappointed for the girls because I know how hard they worked for this,” North head coach Kevin Korstjens said.
Anna Kimsey finished in double-figures with 10 points, six of which came in the first quarter. Allen had eight points for Memorial, followed by seven points from Johnson.
Memorial 47, North 38 (girls)
EN — 12 12 7 7 — 38
EM — 11 6 14 16 — 47
Scoring, EN: Elizabeth Donohoe 19, Anna Kimsey 10, TaNita Dewberry 3, Rachel Wood 3, Tiarra Dewberry 3. EM: Taylor Anderson 17, Katy Allen 8, Madison Johnson 7, Lacey Thomas 4, Krystal Raney 3, Rachel Russell 3, Alie Decker 2, Abi Morrison 2, Paige Locke 1.
