The Nimitz Cougars hosted the Memorial Mustangs Friday night. Both teams dominated a half but for the Cougars the second half was all they needed to secure a 61-41 victory in a District 19-5A girls basketball game.

Nimitz (13-5 overall, 3-0 district) took a 4-0 lead in the start of the first quarter but consecutive three-pointers from Memorial’s Ashley Sunderhaft gave the Mustangs a 15-10 lead to end the quarter.

Memorial took control in the second quarter, when the Cougars did not have an answer for Memorial’s outside shooters. Memorial took its time and passed the ball to find their open players to gain an 11-point lead. But Nimitz slowly climbed back, getting the ball to their 6-foot-5 center, Brittany Griner, who brought them within 24-22 to close the half.

“Once we made adjustments on defense I think we came alive,” Nimitz coach Debbie Jackson said. “We needed to come out with a stronger mindset for defense to begin with, but I am proud of the way we did finally come alive and start playing some ball.”

The Cougars made the right adjustments to start the second half.

Switching to a 2-3 zone, Nimitz cut off the Mustangs outside shot and forced the ball to the inside. As Memorial (6-12, 1-2) struggled to find an open shot the Cougar offense was working as a team to regain the lead. Nimitz’s Marishale Milton, Chrishauna Parker, Jessica Diamond, and Griner found their shots and ran the court to widen the gap to 45-28 at the end of the third quarter.

While Memorial was getting more aggressive in the lane and speeding up its offense, Nimitz slowed the game in the fourth quarter and waited for the right shot. Memorial was able to find the basket but with Griner cleaning up the boards Nimitz was able top close.

Griner led both team with 37 points and Diamond followed with nine points.

Sunderhaft led the Mustangs with 17 points and Sarah Allcorn had 12 points.

Subscribe to this comment's feed