Girls Basketball: Tierney Lockett a shooting star for Rich South
Updated: May 9, 2012 10:03AM
Tierney Lockett was certainly a shooting star for Rich South in the second half in a 44-42 victory over visiting Rich East in the third-place game Wednesday at the annual Rich South Galaxy tournament.
The 5-foot-3 freshman guard hit for four 3-pointers, nailed two critical free throws with 17 seconds remaining, and finished with a game-high 18 points.
The question is, where was all of that shooting in the first half?
Lockett was a less-than-aggressive 1-for-4 over the opening 16 minutes.
“During warm-ups I really wasn’t making shots, so when I got into the game I just wasn’t feeling it,” said a smiling Lockett. “But I was releasing my shot a lot better in the second half.”
CiErra Garrett finished with 14 points, five points and three assists, and Kiela Garner 11 rebounds as Rich South (4-1) finished third in the Galaxy tournament for the second year in a row.
Rich East (3-2) was paced by Makeba Elliott (17 points) and Gelina Webb (9 points).
For much of the game, Rich South was playing catchup. Rich East led by as many as five points early, and was still in front at 27-23 after a bank-in by Ashley Bates in the closing minutes of the third period.
“It was ugly,” Stars coach Brian Mays said. “What we’re lacking is our big players in the post. We’ve been staying on them, and we’re not getting anything out of them. We’re just settling for outside shots, and we can’t do that.”
The Stars caught a little bit of momentum in the final minute of the third period, a layup before the buzzer by Lockett creating a 27-27 tie.
Lockett opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes for Rich South, but Rich East battled back and after a driving layup by Danielle King would forge ahead 40-37.
Lockett’s final 3-pointer with exactly two minutes remaining put the Stars in front 42-40. It was 42-41 with 17 seconds left when she went to the line for a 1-and-1.
“I was thinking, ‘We really need these free throws,’ ” she said. “I just needed to put them down.”
She did.
Rich East had the ball and a chance to tie with 10 seconds remaining, but a steal by Garrett cinched it for Rich South.
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