3A Girls Semifinals: P.K. Yonge, Parkway Score Victories
Tue. February 21, 2012 at 11:00 p.m. | By Polk Preps Staff
P K Yonge's Niya Johnson (23) is fouled by Melbourne Central Catholic's Sarah Martinez (22). (Photo by Pierre DuCharme | The Ledger)
By MIKE FERGUSON
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT
Niya Johnson scored 22 points, ripped down 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists as P.K. Yonge defeated Melbourne Central Catholic 65-45 to advance to the 3A Girls’ Basketball State Final.
P.K. Yonge (29-1) will play Miramar Parkway in the 3A state final on Thursday at 10 a.m.
After trailing 19-11 after a quarter, Central Catholic opened the second period on an 8-4 run to close to within four at 23-19. P.K Yonge answered with a 15-0 run as the half neared its end. Johnson scored 11 of her game-high 22 in the second quarter as the Lady Wave extended its lead to 38-20 at the break. Central Catholic got no closer than 14 in the second half.
P.K. Yonge pulled down 42 rebounds with 17 coming on the offensive end. Brooksie McGraw finished with 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting while forward Aariel Allen finished one point shy of a double-double with 9 points and 10 boards.
“Total team effort tonight”, said head coach Willie Powers. “The reason Brooksie (McGraw) was successful tonight is because she sprinted down the court and beat their forwards down there.”
P.K. Yonge faced a scary moment when Allen went down to the floor with an apparent foot injury with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter.
“I came down on another girl’s foot and at first, I was in shock”, Allen recalled. “After I got to the bench, I knew I was okay.”
Allen returned to the contest for the Lady Wave.
Central Catholic was led by Kemari Jones, who finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Alex Milliard was outmuscled by the bigger P.K. Yonge team, but fought her way to a 9 point, 9 rebound night with 8 of each coming in the second half.
But when it was all said and done, the 15-0 run late in the second quarter put the Hustlers in a hole they could not dig out of. “They made a big run in the second quarter and we just didn’t respond in what was a game of runs.”, said Central Catholic head coach Candy Terry. “We knew that we were going to feel some pressure, but the question was, how would we respond? We responded the exact way that I didn’t want to respond.”
Central Catholic finishes the year with an overall record of 23-8.
Melbourne Central Catholic (45) – Kemari Jones 6-15 6-7 21, Alex Milliard 3-6 3-7 9, Vaugghne Chavez-Gray 4-7 0-2 8, YaYa Ebanks 2-7 1-2 6, Sarah Martinez 1-5 0-0 2, Kathy Ridyard 1-2 0-1 2, Dejanae Baker 0-5 0-0 0, Chelsea Clements 0-1 0-0 0
P.K. Yonge (65) – Niya Johnson 7-20 7-7 22, Brooksie McGraw 7-12 0-0 14, Aariel Allen 3-3 3-4 9, Kiarah Mallory 3-7 0-0 7, Shayla Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, M’Kayla Lumpkins 0-3 4-4 4, Courtney Dollison 0-3 2-2 2, Arriel Fort 1-2 0-0 2, Kailya Jackson 0-0 1-2 1, Andrea Powers 0-0 0-0 0, Leanne Dye 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Johnson 0-0 0-0 0
Melbourne Central Catholic 11 9 13 12 -- 45
P.K. Yonge 19 19 11 16 -- 65
3-Pointers – P.K. Yonge 2-17 (N. Johnson 1-4, Mallory 1-4, S. Johnson 0-3, Dollison 0-2, Allen 0-1, Lumpkins 0-3) Melbourne Central Catholic 1-12 (Ebanks 1-4, Baker 0-5, Martinez 0-3) Rebounds – P.K. Yonge 42 (Allen 10) Melbourne Central Catholic 33 (Milliard 9) Assists – P.K. Yonge 11 (N. Johnson 5) Melbourne Central Catholic 11 (Milliard 3, Baker 3) Records – P.K. Yonge 29-1. Melbourne Central Catholic 23-8.
Miramar Parkway 38, Comm. School of Naples 20
Community School of Naples was held without a field goal for the entire second half as Parkway Academy, from Mirimar, gradually pulled away for a 38-20 victory.
Taylor-Ashley Shaw of Parkway Academy led all scorers with 11 points on an efficient 5-for-10 from the field. Ebony Griffin added 9.
Community School recorded only six free throws for the entire second half. The Seahawks hit a pair of three-pointers in the game’s opening 5 minutes, but could not connect again from beyond the arc the rest of the game. Hunter Martin and Stephanie Paul each scored 5 to lead Community School.
Community School (22-7) reached the state semifinals for a fourth straight year.
Parkway Academy will be competing for a third state championship in five years when it squares off with P.K. Yonge in the 3A State Championship.
“These girls have a chance to be part of history,” said coach Adam Hopkins.
Community School of Naples 8 6 2 4 -- 20
Parkway Academy 12 9 8 9 -- 38
Scoring Leaders: CSN – Hunter Martin 5; PA – Taylor-Ashley Shaw 11
Rebound Leaders: CSN – Hannah Allen 5; PA – Ebony Griffin 4
Assist Leaders: CSN – Caitlin Schwartz 1; PA – Eva Myers 3
