By Rob Potter
ELDRED — The No. 3 seed Millbrook Lady Blazers traveled to “The Bee Hive” on Friday night for a Section IX Class C semifinal game against the No. 2 seed Eldred Lady Yellowjackets.
Outscoring Eldred 11-2 in the second quarter propelled Millbrook to a 44-34 victory and a berth in the Class C championship game.
In those key eight minutes, Allie Kohut had six points and Brittany Keenan scored four points. Keenan made a jump shot in the lane with 1:48 to go in the quarter to give the Lady Blazers their first lead at 16-15.
Millbrook (5-12) pushed its advantage to 26-17 midway through the third period when Marissa Williams made a 3-point shot.
Eldred’s Sage Owens answered with a traditional three-play by making a basket and swishing her free throw. Owens also made four more foul shots to bring the Lady Yellowjackets within four at 28-24 with 2:09 remaining in the quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Kohut scored inside the lane to give the Lady Blazers an eight-point lead at 32-24.
But Eldred’s Kim Elvin swished a 3-point shot from the top of the key to make it a 32-27 game with 7:09 remaining. With 4:32 left, Owens scored inside the lane to bring the Lady Yellowjackets to within four at 36-32.
Savannah Rose made perhaps the biggest shot of the evening for the Lady Blazers when she knocked down a 3-point shot with just two seconds left on the shot clock and 44 seconds remaining in the game. The basket gave Millbrook a 42-34 advantage.
Kohut scored a game-high 23 points and Rose finished with seven points.
Millbrook Coach Heather Iannucci credited her team’s defense for the victory.
“We knew we had to stop Sage [Owens], she’s a great player,” Iannucci said. “We played good defense.”
Iannucci also praised Kohut and Rose.
“Allie is our one senior starter and Savannah made some big shots for us tonight,” Iannucci said.
Owens registered a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Eldred. Forward Meaghan Hazen added 10 points and eight rebounds.
“Only scoring two points in the second quarter really hurt us,” Eldred Coach Jolene Porter said.
The Lady Yellowjackets finished the season with an 11-8 record and will lose six seniors – Danielle Baumgardner, Kim Elvin, Sam Ferguson, Janelle Gerle, Meaghan Hazen and Sage Owens – to graduation.
While Friday night’s loss was understandably disappointing for the Eldred players, coaches and fans, Porter focused on the positive aspects of the season.
“We played great all season,” she said. “These kids played hard every game. We have nothing to regret, we didn’t quit tonight or in any other game.”