Case stated

Published 11:24 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2009

There are no gimmes in postseason basketball.

Northwest Whitfield, seeded No. 1 in the Region 7-4A tournament, escaped with a 53-37 win against eighth-seeded Cass on Tuesday in Tunnel Hill. The second-round victory clinched a spot for the Lady Bruins in the Class 4A state tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

Northwest (24-2) advances to play fourth-seeded Hillgrove — which ended Dalton’s season on Tuesday with a 63-47 win — at 6 p.m. Thursday at Cartersville’s Woodland High in the region semifinals.

Just two weeks ago, the Lady Bruins handled Cass with ease in a 27-point blowout, but with a new post player in Yvonne Alexander, pulled from the junior varsity squad, and a determined defense, the Lady Colonels put up a much tougher fight this time around.

The final score doesn’t indicate how close the game was in the second half. With 4:36 left in the third quarter, Jasmine Wilson’s layup pulled the Lady Colonels to within 29-27.

“That was not the feeling I wanted to have or what I wanted to be thinking about,” said Lady Bruins point guard Baleigh Coley, who finished with 10 points. “We beat this team last time by 20 or so, so getting it cut down to two in the region tournament was very scary.”

On Northwest’s next possession, Emily Trew nailed a 3-pointer and Coley followed with a 3 as part of a 10-2 Lady Bruins run to close out the quarter.

Cass (13-14) continued to hang around and cut the deficit to 41-34 on Alexander’s putback with 4:37 to play. After a Northwest turnover, the Lady Bruins defense, which has been a team staple all season, got a huge lift from 6-foot-3-inch post Christy Robinson, who blocked Alexander’s shot under the basket, grabbed the loose ball and drew a foul from Alexander — her fifth. With the Lady Bruins in the double bonus, Robinson hit one of two free throws to put the Lady Bruins up by 10 and give them some needed breathing room.

“I just try to give it my all on defense,” said Robinson, who led Northwest with eight rebounds and added two blocks. “They were very physical and big players.

“It was hard to get in front and block them out, so me and (Quaneisha McCurty) just tried our best to get physical with them and I was able to block a shot and get to the free throw line.”

The Lady Colonels cut Northwest’s lead to single digits (44-36) one last time on Wilson’s bank shot from the top of the key with 3:28 left.

Cass never got any closer.

“We thought we had a chance there for a minute,” Cass coach Jamison Horton said. “When we came up here we thought we had a chance to shock a few people and we came real close. We just didn’t quite have enough depth to get there.”

Cass’ effectiveness in the full-court press, which was absent in its first trip to Tunnel Hill, kept the Lady Bruins out of rhythm and forced them into turnovers. Coley was uncharacteristically called for a double-dribble and travel in the fourth quarter, and her fellow guards made a number of miscues as well.

“It’s a do-or-die game,” Northwest coach Margaret Stockburger said. “And that puts a little pressure on us. I just felt like we played tight the whole game instead of just relaxing. We had loose balls going through our hands that haven’t gone through our hands all year long. It might not have been a pretty game, but winning is pretty and we get to advance.”

McCurty led Northwest with 12 points and added seven rebounds. Trew had seven points, six steals and four assists. Cass’ Wilson led all scorers with 18 points.

Though the Lady Bruins didn’t play their best basketball, Robinson believes the team will be ready to face the Lady Hawks.

“We hadn’t played in almost a week,” she said. “So we got that out of the way and we’re just focused on Hillgrove.”