Temple girls win first regional game

Temple Christian outscored Christian Heritage 22-4 in the fourth quarter to win 61-35 in the VACA southern regional quarterfinal game at home on Feb. 24.

“The fourth quarter was amazing,” Crusaders coach Ginger Sweat said. “We used the new offense (five-man spread) against Christian Heritage’s man-to-man and were able to make 11 of 22 shots. Another factor in the fourth quarter was that the girls from Christian Heritage seemed to have lost their legs.”

The Crusaders used their speed early in the game to establish a lead. Temple was up 23-13 when center Ellen Wailes picked up her second foul and left the game with two blocks and 10 points. Freshman Kayla Bryant adjusted to Wailes’ position, which she’d never played before. Without the advantage of height down low, other Crusaders stepped up, particularly Tiffany Fulcher.

In the closing minutes of the half, Fulcher nailed a three, and jump shots from the baseline and wing. Seventh-grader Kameron Marshall’s layup put the Crusaders up 32-18, and Fulcher had a block and rebound to deny the Knights any final points in the half.

But the Knights weren’t going away. They came out of halftime with a full-court press that forced six Temple turnovers.

An equally aggressive offense scored 13 points to pull within eight points going into the fourth quarter.

“They were definitely more motivated than my team at that point,” Sweat said. “A few key turnovers hurt us, but we also did not shoot the ball well.”

Seventh-grader Anitra Thomas led the Crusaders in scoring with 20 points. Wailes had 18 points. Fulcher scored nine, Marshall 8 and Hunter six.

Morgan Wood led the Knights with 18 points.

The win put Temple at 15-6 on the season. In the semifinal game Feb. 27, Temple lost 44-24 to Faith Christian School of Roanoke.

In the third-place game, the Crusaders won 35-27 against Timberlake Christian.

The girls will play in the VACA state tournament held the week of March 3.