Eagles pull away

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on February 21, 2006 2:22 PM

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A key defensive switch in the fourth quarter proved crucial as Rosewood's girls basketball team advanced to the Class 1-A N.C. High School Athletic Association sectional semifinals with a 48-34 win at home over Lejeune on Monday.

With the score tied 31-31 after three quarters, Lady Eagles' assistant coach Josh Smith instructed his team to shift into a halfcourt, man-to-man defense to slow down the quickness of Devil Pup point guard Chelsea Quiwah.

The plan worked.

After scoring 17 in the first three quarters, Quiwah had just two points in the fourth, which proved to be Lejeune's only field goal as it committed five turnovers and struggled from the field.

"They were very quick, and they executed very well in their transition game," Smith said of the Devil Pups. "No. 20 (Quiwah) hit some big shots, so we put Shanita (Monroe) on her. She put the pressure on her and kept a hand in her face. Everybody else boxed out, and it was a total team effort."

Meanwhile, the Carolina Conference champs slowed their own tempo down on offense and used a patient, effective approach to outscore the visitors, 17-3 in the final quarter. Six different Eagles scored in the fourth, paced by four points each from Clare Narron, Stephanie Rhodes and Kasie Braswell.

Narron paced the Lady Eagles (20-4) with a team-high 19 points.

The win sends Rosewood into the sectional semis to face a familiar foe, Midway, which had a first-round bye after winning the Super Six Conference. The Lady Eagles and Lady Raiders (20-5) split a pair of regular-season, non-conference contests, each winning on their home court. This time, the two will battle at a neutral site, Kenansville Auditorium, at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

"We beat (Midway) at home by playing man-to-man. Tonight, we had to go man, so it was a great chance for us to do something in a game situation we're going to need to do on Wednesday," Smith said. "It's going to be a battle ... two ball clubs that know each other and it's going to go down to the wire."

Before pulling away in the fourth quarter, the Eagles forced their fair share of turnovers -- 25 total on the game -- but, never consistently converted Lejeune's miscues into points on the other end. The Pups took their biggest lead of the game at 16-9 early in the second quarter, before Rosewood countered with a 14-4 run that stretched through the rest of the second to go into halftime with a 23-20 advantage.

The Eagles' Courtney Hill had nine of her 10 points in the second.

Keyed by two baskets by Quiwah and a 3-pointer by Catherine Crum in the third, Lejeune never let the home team out of its sights in the low-scoring contest. Rosewood continued to suffer from inconsistent play on the offensive end, managing just two field goals and eight points in the quarter.

The Eagles continued to apply pressure in the backcourt in the fourth, but when Quiwah and the Pups broke into the frontcourt, Rosewood stayed in man-to-man instead of hanging back in a zone. The result proved to be dominant fourth quarter that broke the game open and sent the Eagles into the second round.

"We got down, but our heads didn't drop down like Friday night against North Johnston," Rosewood assistant coach Jennifer Cochran said. "They didn't want that feeling in their stomach again."

Lejeune finished the season at 12-12 overall after a third-place finish in the Coastal Plains Conference.

2006 N.C. High School

Athletic Association Class 1-A

Sectional No. 3

(at Rosewood HS)

Lejeune 11 9 11 3 -- 34

Rosewood 7 16 8 17 -- 48

LEJEUNE (12-12)

Chelsea Quiwah 5 2 3-3 19, Catherine Crum 1 1 0-0 5, Candus Slade 0 1 0-0 3, Dimetria Edwards 1 0 0-0 2, Quinika Benter 1 0 0-1 2, Jessica Stoner 1 0 0-0 2, Phenicia Turner 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 9 4 4-6 34.

ROSEWOOD (20-4)

Clare Narron 4 1 6-6 19, Courtney Hill 3 0 4-6 10, Shanita Monroe 3 0 2-2 8, Kasie Braswell 3 0 1-2 7, Stephanie Rhodes 2 0 0-0 4, Kasey Grey 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 16 1 13-16 48.

3-point goals -- LHS 4 (Quiwah 2, Crum, Slade), RHS 1 (Narron). Turnovers -- LHS 25, RHS 14. Total fouls -- LHS 15, RHS 11. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.