McKinley handles Dominican to reach Division I girls basketball final

ALEXANDRIA, La. – Playing without injured center Kenyal Perry, McKinley has become more guard-oriented in its attack. The focus was clear and it was lethal Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Panthers buried ten 3-pointers, jumping on Dominican early and coasted to a 61-33 victory in the Division I semifinals Thursday afternoon at Rapides Coliseum.

“Our girls did an excellent job,” interim McKinley coach Bridget Bowman said. “We came into the game with a mindset to go back to the championship game and do what we didn’t do last year. Our girls executed well in the first quarter and the first half. We came out a little flat in the third quarter but finished strong in the fourth quarter.”

The Panthers opened the game on an 11-0 run as Alexius Horne nailed three consecutive 3-pointers and closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 26-8. Horne had 14 points in the quarter while Erica Lafayette scored eight points.

In the second quarter, it was Johne Forman who stepped up and got hot for the Lady Panthers, draining three triples as McKinley expanded its lead to 40-16 at the half.

Dominican played much better in the third quarter, holding McKinley scoreless for over four minutes and winning the quarter 11-7 but still trailed 47-27 going to the final frame.

Horne led McKinley (30-5) with 19 points while Caira Wren added 13 and Forman had 11. Emily Adams was high for Dominican (24-8) with eight points while Kate Baker and Sydney Sherman each had seven points.

Dominican head coach Ryan Reuter was impressed with the Lady Panthers.

“I don’t think we have given up more than six 3-pointers in a game all year,” Reuter said. “To give up 10 is tough to deal with. It’s a credit to them. We knew they had two or three really good players, but in the games we saw, I’ve never seen them shoot that well. If they’re shooting like that, anybody is going to have a hard time beating them.”

McKinley will face top-seed and defending state champion John Curtis Christian in the final Saturday at 4 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s title game. The Lady Patriots handled fifth-seed Evangel Christian 74-37.

On Dec. 1 in the St. Michael Tournament, McKinley handed John Curtis its only loss of the season, beating the Lady Patriots 44-43. Last year, Curtis downed McKinley 43-36 in the title game.

Final
McKinley 26 14 7 14 — 61
Dominican 8 8 11 6 — 33

Girls basketball championship results from Thurs., Mar. 1

5A

(8) East Ascension 61, (5) Zachary 41

(7) Natchitoches Central 49, (6) Captain Shreve 41

2A

(2) Lake Arthur 62, (14) Rosepine 41

(1) North Caddo 59, (5) Red River 50

Division I

(1) John Curtis Christian 74, (5) Evangel Christian 37

(2) McKinley 61, (3) Dominican 33

Division IV

(1) Lafayette Christian 88, (9) Central Catholic 18

(4) Southern Lab 49, (5) Vermilion Catholic 35

Girls Championship Game Schedule for Fri., Mar. 2

Class C—(1) Plainview vs. (2) Atlanta, noon

1A—(1) Delhi vs. (2) Merryville, 2 p.m.

Division II—(3) Ursuline vs. (4) Lee Magnet, 4 p.m.

Division IV—(1) Lafayette Christian vs. (2) Houma Christian, 6 p.m.

4A—(3) Neville vs. (4) Warren Easton, 8 p.m.