Second-half run fuels Lady Jags semifinal victory

BIRMINGHAM – Nobody believed Mike Chase when he said that his halftime speech was calm, cool and collected.

The smirks on his face and the faces of the three players joining him in the postgame press conference were unable to hide the truth.

In reality, it was probably pretty loud.

However his message was conveyed, it worked, as the Spain Park High School girls basketball team turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 60-51 win over Lee-Montgomery in the Class 7A State Semifinals on Thursday afternoon at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

With the win, the Lady Jags advanced to the 7A final for the second straight season. They will face McGill-Toolen at 4 p.m. Saturday.

“It was pretty fiery,” the Spain Park admitted of his halftime speech. “These guys have played with me since they’ve been in sixth grade, so I know when to encourage. I know when to push some buttons, and there needed to be some buttons pushed.”

The Lady Jags held the lead for much of the second quarter, as Claire Holt scored seven points in the period. But Lee’s Zippy Broughton took over late and gave her team a 30-24 halftime edge, as the Lady Generals finished the half on an 11-2 run that included a trifecta of 3s from Broughton.

Lee-Montgomery managed to score six of the first eight points in the third quarter to open up a 36-26 edge. And that’s when the game turned.

Out of a timeout, Spain Park went on a 12-1 run with buckets from Barrett Herring, Sarah Ashlee Barker and Holt. Included in that run was a critical sequence from Barker in which she converted a 3-pointer, layup, and a blocked shot on consecutive possessions.

“Last year we walked off as the runner-up and I have that in the back of my head every time we’re on the floor,” she said. “Those three possessions really helped us in getting back in the game.

There was no panic from the Lady Jags, who made several late-game comebacks in their playoff run a season ago, including overcoming an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter against McGill-Toolen in the semifinals.

“When we were down 10 in the third quarter, we knew we had time,” Chase said, who added that being at this stage last season was a factor in his team being able to finish the game strong.

Despite allowing the big run, Lee fought back to take a one-point edge late in the third quarter, before Holt scored and Herring converted a layup on a feed from Barker at the horn to give Spain Park a 42-39 lead.

Holt led the Lady Jags with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting and was joined in double figures by Barker, who scored 13 points and racked up nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks and four steals.

A key to Spain Park taking control of the second half was limiting Broughton, who finished with a game-high 27 points, but scored just 10 in the second half. The Lady Jags switched Holt onto her for the final three quarters, and Holt was able to use past experience to her advantage.

“I used to play with her on my AAU team, so we’ve been old friends,” Holt said. “I know she can shoot, she’s lighting fast, super athletic.” Holt said it was still tough to guard her, even knowing what moves she would pull out at times.

Lee outrebounded Spain Park, 41-31, in the contest, but the Lady Jags were able to hold their own on the boards in the second half. Herring had nine rebounds to go along with her seven points.

“I knew they were going to try to double down and make sure I couldn’t get rebounds,” she said. “I just tried to use my height to my advantage. Once I figured out how to do that, I was able to get rolling.”

Neither team got off to a hot start offensively, but both traded 3-pointers midway through the first quarter. Broughton and Bailey Bowers exchanged long balls, and Lee’s Zaniya Crawford hit one that was quickly answered by Barker.

Bowers hit a pair of deep shots in the first period. Her second one was at the end of the frame and tied the game at 12-12. Bowers also banked in a 3 in the fourth quarter to extend the Lady Jags’ lead, as she finished the day with nine points.

Broughton scored a basket to open the fourth quarter, but Spain Park scored the next seven points on an Ahrielle Parks jumper, Claire Holt 3-pointer and two free throws from Holt. Parks finished the game off with four free throws in the final minute to put it out of reach.