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Lady Tigers pull ahead in fourth
Bradwell defeats region rival Beach H.S. 53-51
MariahMaternik
Senior Lady Tiger Mariah Maternik scored 11 points against the Lady Bulldogs. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon

Beach beats Bradwell

boys 65-56

Immediately following the Lady Tigers’ close win over the Lady Bulldogs, the boys took to the hardwood where the Bulldogs emerged victorious winning 65-56.

Miguel Pineda and Malcolm Dingle scored in the double-digits for the Tigers with 14 and 11 points, respectively, but the Bulldogs were able to pull away for the lead in the second half of the game. The game was tied at 28 during intermission. Beach won 65-56.

The two best girls basketball teams in Region 3-AAAAA went head-to-head Tuesday night at Beach High in a game that had the potential to be what BI coach Faye Baker calls a "real barn burner."

The contest lived up to its promise, as Bradwell (3-0) won 53-51 in a game that was close throughout.

The Lady Bulldogs took an early 8-5 lead, but Bradwell cut Beach’s lead to 14-13 with a 3-pointer from freshman Shaquoia Crockett.

Still, Beach extended its lead to 32-19 by halftime.

"We played too much individual ball at the beginning of the game," Baker said. "And I told them against good teams — especially well-coached teams like Beach — that’s not going to work."

The BI girls came out with a full court press in the second half and managed some timely steals in the fourth quarter to stifle the Lady Bulldogs’ offense.

"I don’t know what it is, but it takes us a while to realize that we need to be more patient on offense, swing the ball a little more to get some better looks at the basket," Baker said. "We knew we were going to press all along, we just tried to save it. We didn’t want to get into early foul trouble so I was trying to save the press for the second half. That brought us back."

So did key 3-point shots from Crockett, who finished with 21 points including three 3-pointers, and KeAndra Frasier, who hit a 3-pointer to bring Bradwell within 2 points with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

"KeAndra Frasier came in and hit a pretty big shot for us and we inserted her in the game right toward the end and she hit a pretty big layup for us," Baker said.

Beach answered with a 3-pointer by Cristeria Jarkins, but Crockett hit her third try of the night to pull Bradwell within four points.

In the fourth quarter Mariah Maternik, Quintunya Chapman and Crockett were like thieves, stealing the ball right out of their opponents’ hands and converting them for quick baskets.

First, Crockett sank a layup with 3:46 left in regulation, tying the game 45-45. Chapman then jumped in front of a pass and snagged a layup on the return.

Crockett then grabbed another loose ball and two passes later, Chapman hit another layup and Maternik’s free throws after a drive to the basket with 46 second left put the BI girls up 51-47.

Beach inbounded the ball, drew a foul and sank both to pull within 53-51 game with 2.5 seconds left before Maternik grabbed the ball inbounds and ran out the clock for the win.

Baker called the second half a team effort. She praised the play of Leitia Leiataua, who Baker said brought in much needed intensity and aggressiveness.

"Kami Small came in off the bench and played well for us," Baker said. "Symone Mays came in and did an excellent job in the second half on the boards for us. She really helped Quintunya Chapman out a lot, grabbing those boards and allowing Beach only one-shot opportunities. That was another thing that hurt us the first half. They were getting many second shot opportunities and that was killing us. She did a much better job of containing them in the second half."

BI walks away with its first region win, but the Lady Tigers know Beach isn’t going anywhere.

"When the smoke clears we know Beach is always going to be there," Baker said. "It’s always going to be a barn burner when we play them."

BI will host Johnson tonight with the girls tipping off at 7 p.m. and the boys game to follow afterwards.

BI 53, Beach 51

BI: 13|6|16|18-53

Beach: 14|18|7|12-51

Lady Tiger lead scorers: Shaquioa Crockett 21, Mariah Maternik 11, KeAndra Frasier 7, Leitia Leiataua 6, Quintunya Chapman 4, Symone Mays and Brittany Terrell each had 2

Lady Bulldogs: Amber Curtis 17, Medena Bartley 15, Jada Young 7, Allie Stealman and Aroke Quarterman each had 4, Cristeria Jarkins 3, Jademine Jones 1

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