Sherwood boys, girls advance to championship

ALBANY — Sherwood Christian senior guard Madison Walker scored 23 points, including the 1,000 point of her career, to lead the Lady Eagles to a 47-34 win over Brookwood School in the SCA Christmas Tournament Friday night.

“I’m very proud of Madison Walker,” Sherwood coach Lakeshia Elder said. “She’s been a joy to coach. I enjoy her leadership on the court. I’m glad to be a part of her 1,000-point career these three years that I’ve been here. I’m very proud of our girls in this tournament, because last year, we lost in this tournament. I’m glad that we are headed to the championship game. They played a great game tonight.”

Walker didn’t know she had reached the 1,000-point mark in her career.

“I was surprised … I didn’t know I had reached the 1,000-point mark,” Walker said. “When I scored, everyone was screaming. I was like, what’s going on.”

Walker opened the game’s scoring and reached the mark on a 3-pointer. The Lady Eagles then went on an 11-0 run and never looked back.

Sherwood forced turnovers by full court pressure and scored points off those miscues. With a little over three minutes to play in the first half and Sherwood leading 18-4, the Lady Warriors went on an 8-4 run, cutting Sherwood’s lead to 22-12. However, Walker responded with two baskets to give Sherwood a 26-12 lead at the half.

At halftime, Walker was honored at center court for her achievement.

Brookwood went on a 6-2 run in the third quarter before Elder called time out with 2:34 to go. By the end of the third, the Lady Warriors had cut Sherwood’s lead to 33-24.

But in the fourth quarter, the closest Brookwood could get was 10 points as the Lady Eagles were able to hold on for the win.

The Lady Eagles will take on Fullington Academy tonight in the championship game of the tournament at 1 p.m. today.

SHERWOOD CHRISTIAN BOYS 54, HIGHLAND CHRISTIAN 52: Sherwood Christian sophomore guard Josh Kendrick led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points, all coming in the second half, to lead Sherwood Christian to a thrilling win over Highland.

Both teams struggled shooting from the field throughout much of the first quarter. But with less than a minute to play and Sherwood up 9-6, Highland Christian’s Reed Thomas knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game. Jaylen Hiller put Highland up 11-9 with a basket, but Sammy Smith nailed a 3-pointer to give Sherwood Christian a 12-11 lead by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was tightly contested. With 2:50 to go in the half, Smith hit a 3-pointer to give Sherwood a 21-19 lead. A couple of minutes later, with the game tied at 23, Smith hit another 3-pointer to put Sherwood up by three.

Hiller made one of two free throws, but that was as close as Highland would get in the first half as both teams went to halftime with Sherwood up 26-24.

Sherwood went on a 9-3 run to start the second half, then Highland went on a run of their own to cut the lead to 37-34. Sherwood struggled in the third quarter, missing some easy shots on the inside.

However, with a little over two minutes to go in the third and Sherwood up by three, Kendrick scored six straight points to give the Eagles a 43-34 advantage.

In the fourth quarter, Kendrick erupted with eight more points to help build the Eagles’ lead to double digits at 52-41 before Highland’s Wesley Robinson scored with a little over three minutes left in the game.

However, Highland went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to five. Then with 1:39 to play, Robinson drove the lane but Seth King stepped in and took a charge, giving Robinson an offensive foul.

Highland scored with around 50 seconds to go to cut Sherwood’s lead to 52-49. On the Eagles’ next possession, King was fouled, but missed the front end of a one and one.

However, Sherwood got the ball back on a steal and Highland was whistled for an intentional foul. But Chaz Griffin missed the free throws.

Sherwood maintained possession and Smith was fouled and made one of two free throws, making it 53-49. After a Reed Thomas basket for Highland, Griffin was fouled with 19.3 seconds to go and made one of two free throws. Then with 14 seconds to go, Highland was ready to try to tie the game.

The inbounds pass went off a Sherwood player with 10 seconds left and Highland called time out to set up a play.

With 7.6 seconds left, Sherwood deflected and stole the pass and called time out.

After the timeout, a long pass was thrown to Griffin, who was fouled on the layup attempt. He missed both free throws, giving Highland a chance to tie with 4.6 seconds left.

As Thomas attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer, he was fouled by Griffin with 0.3 seconds left, giving Thomas three free throws. However, Thomas missed the first and made the second. After Sherwood called time out, the third free throw was missed and Sherwood held on for the win.

“I thought we played well,” Sherwood coach Vince King said. “We had a big lead. We tried to burn a little clock. We mishandled the ball some, so we’ll have to work on that. We got some excellent play from a couple of sophomores — Sammy Smith and Josh Kendrick. Kendrick just came in and lit it up, both on offense and defense. They really sparked us.”