Two down, two to go for Episcopal Collegiate.
Ashauni Corley led a furious fourth-quarter charge for the Lady Wildcats, who overcame a dreadful third quarter and rallied just in time to earn a hard-fought 36-34 victory over Harding Academy in a pivotal 3A-6 Conference clash on Tuesday night.
The senior guard scored six of her 14 points over the final four minutes of the fourth quarter for Episcopal Collegiate (21-3, 11-1), which stayed on track to potentially capture a league title after winning for the second time in as many days. But there was nothing at all easy about their recent conquest inside Wildcat Gymnasium despite having a little extra incentive.
Harding Academy (19-6, 11-3) beat Episcopal Collegiate 48-34 on Jan. 13 and used a dominant effort on the glass to hold a 29-24 lead after three quarters. However, things went south after that.
Episcopal Collegiate, which has two more games this week, including a home battle with conference co-leader Helena-West Helena on Friday, went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth, with Cydney Sanders' three-pointer from the corner giving the Lady Wildcats a 30-29 lead with 6:14 to go. Harding Academy missed all eight of its shot attempts and turned the ball over three times during that span.
"In a game like this, [defense] really paid off because the offense for either team wasn't really good," Episcopal Collegiate Coach Micah Marsh said. "I thought we turned it over a little too much, left a lot of possessions out there. But our girls were gritty with defense there at the end of the third quarter, start of the fourth.
"We just stuck with it. Harding is a good team, they're well-coached and physical."
That physicality was what allowed Harding Academy to stay close throughout the game. It shot 8 of 28 (28.5%) in the first half and 12 of 51 (23.5%) for the game but held a huge 38-25 rebounding advantage.
Episcopal Collegiate, which also got 10 points and 14 rebounds from Riley Brady and went 13 of 38 (34.2%) from the floor, led by as many as seven points in the first half but trailed 21-20 at halftime when Calle Citty's stick back at the horn put Harding Academy ahead.
Marsh's team would put themselves in an even bigger hole in the third quarter when they missed their first eight field-goal attempts after opening the period with two free throws. That futility enabled Harding Academy to run off on a closing 8-2 run, highlighted by Citty's three-point play with just under a minute remaining in the quarter.
"I just told the girls to stick with it," Marsh explained. "We're a defensive-minded team, and we feel like if it hasn't gotten too out of hand, we're always two or three stops away. So they just stuck with it.
"We got some big stops and got a couple of easy buckets. Cydney hit a big three in the corner that kind of put us over the top a little bit."
Episcopal Collegiate would push its lead to 35-29 after a three-pointer from Corley, but Harding Academy, which got 12 points from McKenney Sheffield and 10 points and 12 rebounds from Citty, got within 35-34 with 1:01 showing. Corley later added another free throw before a last-ditch heave from Harding Academy's Kloey Fullerton sailed wide at the buzzer.
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NoneRobinson comes through, leads Episcopal to victory
m Kellen Robinson tormented Harding Academy again Tuesday night.
The sophomore scored 33 points in three quarters to power Episcopal Collegiate (20-5, 11-1 3A-6) to a 69-32 rout at Wildcat Gymnasium.
The victory was the 11th in a row for Episcopal Collegiate, which beat Harding Academy 76-33 three weeks ago behind a 30-point outing from Robinson. The 6-2 guard was even better in the rematch.
Robinson made seven of his first eight shots and scored 17 points in the first quarter to help the Wildcats build a 21-4 lead. Harding Academy (7-11, 6-8) did close that gap by the midway point of the second quarter and got within 26-15 until a driving lay-up by Robinson started a 14-6 rally that gave Episcopal Collegiate a 40-21 lead at halftime.
The Wildcats scored 15 of the first 17 points of the second half, with Robinson notching eight of those, to establish an even wider margin – one that would eventually lead to a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played well, and I was really proud of them,” Episcopal Collegiate Coach Brandon Friedel said. “We’ve got a bunch of games this week with four of them, and that’s tough. But we wanted to make sure we stay focused because each game is the biggest one for us. I thought we had a good turnaround after Monday’s game, too.
“We played really good defensively, and we gave really good effort from start to finish.”
Grant Gary has 11 points, Elijah Mason ended with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, and Keeton Dassinger contributed 11 rebounds for Episcopal Collegiate. Levi Mercer scored seven points for Harding Academy.
— Erick Taylor
Gallery: Girls HS Basketball: Harding Academy at Episcopal
