O'Hara ends Lady Tigers' win streak

The O’Hara Lady Celtics dictated tempo, used their size advantage inside, and ended the Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers’ four-game win streak with a 53-41 win on Thursday night. The Celtics stifled the Smith-Cotton offense through the first three quarters, holding the Lady Tigers to just 27 points, and held on for the West Central Conference win.

“They made us play the pace they wanted to play,” commented Smith-Cotton coach Chris Parsons. “We’re a quick team, and there were times down the court that we had opportunities, but we tried to hurry through things instead of breaking it down and taking what they gave us. They definitely dominated and got us to do what they wanted us to do.”

Smith-Cotton (7-6, 3-2) got off to a quick start, grabbing an early 6-2 lead on the shooting of Cristian Sharp. Sharp, who finished with 10 points, scored six of those points in the opening quarter.

After the Lady Tigers took the lead, O’Hara increased the pressure on its press. That pressure led to seven first-quarter turnovers as the Lady Celtics grabbed a 15-10 lead heading into the second.

“They’re huge. I was hoping our speed would counter that a little bit, but especially in the first quarter we were just shooting into those girls. We weren’t trying to use our body. If you shoot into them, you’re only asking for trouble,” Parsons said.

O’Hara continued to pound the ball inside in the second quarter, taking advantage of a pair of 6’ 2” post players, Victoria Hurt and Hailey Houser. When Hurt and Houser weren’t scoring, they were blocking shots on the defensive end.

With the Smith-Cotton offense struggling to score, O’Hara took advantage and built a 30-19 halftime lead.

The Lady Celtics went to the perimeter shot in the third, outscoring Smith-Cotton 11-2 to start the quarter. Houser capped the run when she stepped out and drilled a 3-pointer to put O’Hara in front 41-21.

“They are a well-rounded team,” said Parsons of the Lady Celtics. “We tried to pick our poison. Early on we tried to make them beat us from the outside. It worked for us. Then they started getting a little bit inside, so we went to that. Then the outside girls started hitting some shots and driving.”

Baskets by Smith-Cotton’s Andi Rea and Tanacia Smith helped cut into the lead at the end of the quarter, but O’Hara still held a comfortable 43-27 lead as the fourth began.

Another quick offensive start to a quarter, this time an 8-2 burst, pushed the Lady Celtics up 51-29 before the Lady Tigers got clicking on offense.

Smith-Cotton was able to cut the lead to 10 in the final minute, but could get no closer.

“We knew we had our hands full tonight. They’re probably the best team in our conference. We’re getting there. We’ve had a pretty good season.

When we get to a game situation, we’ve got to do the things we did in practice. If we don’t do that, we’re going to continue to lose to teams like these, and be looking up at the top,” Parsons said.

Kristi Miller had eight points for Smith-Cotton and Rea finished with seven. Houser led O’Hara with 14.