Rosewood girls beat Princeton
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 22, 2009 1:46 PM
PRINCETON -- Rosewood got off to a fast start, lapsed for a moment and finished just as strong in a 38-31 victory over Princeton in the opening round of the annual Princeton High School Christmas Tournament.
The Eagles play Rocky Mount Prep in the tournament finals today at 5 p.m.
Early in Monday's game, the Rosewood press made life miserable for the Princeton offense. The Eagles held an 11-7 advantage after one quarter.
"I though our girls played really hard, especially on the defensive end," said first-year Rosewood head coach Ryan Wells. "We were able to get out and run some because we were forcing turnovers and staying up in our press."
The visitors held a five-point advantage at the intermission, but the Bulldawgs did not go quietly.
Princeton cut the Rosewood lead down to two points in the opening six minutes of the third quarter. The Dawgs capped the rally when Hannah Woodard tied the game with a three-point play early in the final period.
"Our girls made a great effort to get back in the game," said first-year Princeton head coach Marty Gurganus. "We scored to tie it in the fourth, but to Rosewood's credit they rallied and got their lead back on the next possession."
A 3-pointer by Amanda Beckert gave Rosewood a 30-27 lead and the Eagles used a 6-0 run to seal the victory. Senior Taylor Johnson led the Eagles (2-8 overall) with a double-double -- 13 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Holly Heath tallied eight points.
"Taylor had a nice game and she really helped get us going on the defensive end," said Wells. "When she blocks a shot or gets a defensive rebound, that allows us to get out and run the floor and score in transition."
Nicole Melvin paced the Bulldawgs (1-7) with 11 points. Meagan Myers added six points and six rebounds.
Princeton faces Kipp Pride in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. today.