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It was an evening of basketball excitement Friday night as St James Catholic School in Millstadt hosted Immaculate Conception School of Columbia in a pair of basketball contests. The 8th Grade Lady Trojans of St James faced the 8th Grade Lady Crusaders of Immaculate Conception at 6:30 followed by the 8th Grade boy’s game at 8:00 p.m. The St James boy’s team won their game and the Lady Trojans initiated the sweep of ICS winning.37-29.
It was a low scoring first quarter as the two teams tried to find their game. Both teams played good half court defense forcing the other into some bad shots. It became apparent that the challenge for the Lady Trojans would hinge on their ability to defend against the larger ICS squad. The Lady Crusaders had the task of dealing with the quickness of the Lady Trojans. Both teams were giving a solid defensive effort as the Lady Trojans led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
St James’ team quickness came to the fore in the second quarter as the Lady Trojans applied intense defensive pressure on the ICS ball handlers, likely to prevent them from working the ball inside to their taller players. The pressure was working and the Lady Trojans capitalized with breakaway lay-ups for points. When the Lady Crusaders were able to work it into their taller players they were able to score. But the Lady Trojans defense didn’t allow it very often and St James extended their lead to 16-12 at halftime.
In the third quarter the ICS Lady Crusaders seemed more determined to work the ball inside to their taller players. Moving one of their taller players to the high post, the Lady Crusaders found it easier to work it to the low post and the result was points. That offensive move prompted Lady Trojans Coach Kevin Colbert to change his defense, moving from man-to-man to a zone defense to disrupt the entry pass to the high post. The zone defense didn’t work and they went back to the man-to-man. With 1:04 left in the third quarter the Lady Trojans upped the ante and went to a full court press. But both teams kept pace scoring ten points each in the third quarter as St James still led 26-22 after three quarters.
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