HIGH POINT -- Southwest Guilford's Zena Lovette said all her team needed was a little separation from West Forsyth.
Lovette provided that, scoring nine of the Cowgirls final 11 points in the second quarter to help them roll to a 66-52 win over the Titans in the Class 4-A West Sectional final Friday night. Southwest Guilford (27-2) advances to next week's Regional round at the Greensboro Coliseum.
"We were just kind of shaky at first," said Lovette, who finished with 29 points. "We hadn't played that kind of competition this year. Once we got our spurts, we got going after that."
With the game tied at 19 with about 2:30 to play in the second quarter, the Cowgirls turned up the defensive pressure, forcing three turnovers and a missed shot. Lovette, who had just scored after a steal to tie the game, then hit two free throws, had another steal and layup and finished the quarter with a 3-pointer and a soft baseline jumper to give Southwest Guilford a 30-21 halftime lead.
"Zena is a special player," Southwest Guilford coach Jessica Bryan said. "She'll get back on defense. She'll get a lot of steals. She just gets up and down the court on both offense and defense."
The team followed Lovette's lead into the third quarter by opening with a 9-0 run. Jessica Pone had four points to start and Brianna Burgins finished with a 3-pointer to give the Cowgirls a 39-21 lead. West Forsyth didn't score for the first four minutes of the quarter.
"It was team intensity and team defense," Lovette said. "Everybody just started hitting their shots and things started to fall into place."
The Cowgirls had no trouble closing out the win. Lovette and Pone took turns making free throws to wrap things up.
"When you've got four guards that can handle the ball very well," Bryan said, "you do have an advantage."
Both teams seemed to be feeling the other out in the first quarter. After West Forsyth took a quick 5-2 lead, the Cowgirls finished the quarter with a 7-2 run and lead 9-7 at the end of the first period.
West Forsyth (17-9) -- Tori Cook 19, Tatum Jarvis 18, Leigh Midkiff 5, Janna Dixon 4, Jessica Jones 2, Jazmine Jones 2, Catie Jarvis 2.
Southwest Guilford (27-2) -- Zena Lovette 29, Jessica Pone 21, Shanel Lawrence 7, Brianna Burgins 5, Shannon Buchanan 3, Brittany Connor 1.
|
West Forsyth |
7 | 14 | 12 | 19 | -- | 52 | |
| SW Guilford | 9 | 21 | 18 | 18 | -- | 66 |
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