The Tribune

by RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A stifling defensive effort in the third quarter gave the St Augustine’s Big Red Machine the separation they needed to take game two and complete a sweep of the Kingsway Academy Saints in the BAISS Junior Girls Championship Series.

The Big Red Machine defeated the Saints 38-17 yesterday in the opening game at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

O’Bree Carey again led SAC with a game high 11 points, Dachye Stubbs added 10 and Dionnae Culmer came off the bench to finish with eight.

Tanae Bowleg led the Saints with seven and Valicia Demeritte finished with six.

The Saints looked like they would turn around a sluggish game one start and kept pace with the Big Red Machine for much of the first half.

They took their first lead of the series on a free throw from Bowleg for an 8-7 lead.

Demeritte tied the game at 14 on a fastbreak layup, but the Big Red Machine would take a 16-14 lead into the half.

The third quarter would prove to be the difference in the game as SAC outscored Kingsway 12-3 in the period to take a commanding lead.

The lead grew to as much as eight, 22-14, before the Saints would respond on Bowleg’s pull up jumper.

Culmer gave SAC their first lead of double figures with a baseline jumper just before the half to give her team a 28-17 lead headed into the third.

With their top scorers in foul trouble for much of the fourth, the Saints offense continued to struggle and failed to score in the final period, outscored 10-0.

The Big Red Machine took the series winning by average margin of 17.5 points per game.

Carey led the series in scoring at 11 points per game.

Here’s a recap of game one in the series:

SAC topped the Kingsway Academy Saints 35-21 in game one

Carey scored a game high 12 points, Culmer added eight and Chyna Curry chipped in with seven.

SAC led wire to wire in the contest despite a slow start from the field from both teams.

Curry’s fastbreak layup just before the buzzer sounded was the only field goal of the first quarter and gave the Big Red Machine a 5-1 lead after one.

The Saints would score their first field goal on the opening possession of the second quarter, but fell behind big when Carey took control.

On consecutive plays, she grabbed a rebound and took the ball the full length of the floor to take a 13-5 lead.

The Saints staged a late rally before the half but still trailed 13-9.

Curry opened the second half for SAC with a three point play, and a Hollie Major layup two plays later gave them an 18-9 advantage.

They got their first double digit lead when Major split a pair at the line to make it 19-9.

The 8-0 run saw the lead grow to 23-9 before the Saints were able to score and make a run of their own to trim the defecit.

Nursing a 25-15 headed into the fourth, the Big Red Machine had an answer for every Saints run to keep them at bay with a 10 point lead.