The trip to the finals in the District 9 Officials 14th Annual Christmas Basketball Tournament on Dec. 30, wasn’t easy for the Lady Monarchs.
The Lady Monarchs defeated the Lady Gators in Game 2 of the tournament on Dec. 28, 48-44.
Manning’s scoring was led by Latisha Brown with 16 points, six rebounds, three steals and one assist. Karen White followed with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Shanequa Muldrow had eight points, two steals and four assists. Breanna Nelson had eight points, eight rebounds, four steals, four assists and one blocked shot. Alexia Abraham rounded out the scoring with four points and nine rebounds.
Later that afternoon, the Lady Monarchs soundly defeated the Lady Stallions of Lee Central, 53-31.
Breanna Nelson led all Manning scorers with 11 points, three rebounds, two steals, two assists and two blocked shots. Abraham followed with 10 points and eight rebounds. Muldrow had nine points and four assists. White had eight points, three rebounds and one assist. Brown had five points, three steals and two assists. Makeba Harvin scored four points. Imani Bell, Kenyatta Taylor and Monica Nelson rounded out the scoring with two points each.
On the second day of the tournament, Manning faced off against Lamar and needed to score big points against the Lady Silver Foxes to stay in the hunt for the finals.
The Lady Monarchs were scoring right from the buzzer with 14 unanswered points to begin the game. At the half, Manning was up 30-13.
The third quarter wasn’t productive for the Lady Monarchs with only four points posted on the board for the entire quarter, which allowed Lamar to cut the Monarchs’ lead to 34-24.
The fourth quarter was a different story.
The Lady Monarchs pulled away by outscoring the Lady Silver Foxes 16-4 in the fourth quarter with a final score of 50-28.
Although Manning was 3-0 in the tournament, the team’s fate was in the hands of another team, Lee Central’s Lady Stallions.
“It’s all about the brackets,” said Lady Monarch Head Coach John F. Thames. “We haven’t lost a game and we might not make the finals.”
It came down to numbers.
If Lee Central beat C.E. Murray outright or Lee Central lost to C.E. Murray by less than 10 points, the Lady Monarchs would play the Lady Gators in the finals. If Lee Central didn’t come to their rescue, C.E. Murray’s Lady War Eagles would be in the finals against the Lady Gators.
As fate would have it, the Lady Stallions played their best game of the tournament.
Lee Central led for most of the game. C.E. Murray took the lead with only a few minutes left on the clock but couldn’t break away.
C.E. Murray won 61-57, putting the Lady Monarchs in the finals against the Lady Gators, a team they were 4-1 against this season.
The final was close the entire game with the Lady Gators leading the majority of the time. At the half, the Lady Gators were on top 22-18. At the end of the third quarter, the Lady Monarchs were trailing 29-26. The Lady Gators maintained their lead until the buzzer, winning 41-37.
High scorer for the Lady Monarchs was Breanna Nelson with 13 points, six rebounds, two steals, two assists and two blocked shots. White followed with 12 points and eight rebounds. Muldrow finished with eight points, three steals and three assists. Brown had four points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. Abraham pulled down six rebounds.
“They beat us fair and square,” Thames said after the game. “Our girls were flat. They played a good game. They were the better team tonight.”
