by Malcolm Butler
After St. Frederick had fought its way back into the game with Cedar Creek, Lady Cougar Zoey Venters fought them back off.
Venters scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the decisive third quarter to lead Cedar Creek (14-9, 3-0) to a 54-36 road win over the Warriors. (3-13, 0-3). With the victory, the Lady Cougars maintain their lead in District 2-1A with a showdown at OCS set for Friday.
With Cedar Creek holding a 30-22 halftime advantage, Venters scored 10 of the first 12 points of the third quarter as the Lady Cougars extended their lead to 46-25.
Venters hit back-to-back short corner jumpers before following with a layup at the 5:30 mark to make it 36-5. After a Caroline James bucket, Venters scored back-to-back baskets again as the lead ballooned to 42-25 on her offensive rebound and putback with 3:03 to play in the stanza.
“Her engine never stops,” said Cedar Creek head coach Katie Hall. “She was worried about picking up fouls and I told her to trust her instincts. She plays hard. She rebounds. She hit some big buckets for us in that third quarter. I love her energy.”
The Lady Cougars jumped out to a fast start, taking a 17-5 lead on a Venters bucket with three minutes to play in the first quarter. Mallory Smith scored the first four of the game and then Olivia Underwood buried a corner three and a pull up jumper to spark the Cougars early.
“We were trying to push it early,” said Hall. “We knew they didn’t have many players and couldn’t got deep on their bench. We wanted to play fast and take advantage of that.”
Creek led 18-11 at the end of the first and a Mary Grace Hawkins bucket early in the second quarter made it 20-11. However, a Warriors three-pointer started a 10-2 run over the next three minutes as St. Fred cut the deficit down to 22-21. However, Leah Sutherland started a quarter-ending 8-1 run with and putback and James netted the final six points of the frame to make it 30-22 at half.
The Lady Cougars took advantage of their depth against the six-person St. Fred’s squad, pushing the ball in transition in the third quarter.
“I feel like especially in the second half, they got tired,” said Hall. “We kept pushing the ball in transition and I thought it was effective. And I thought our defense in the second half was much better.”
Hall was able to provide some extended minutes to her bench in the fourth quarter as Arlyn Boyet recorded her first varsity basket in the final quarter.
In addition to Venter’s double digit scoring night, Sutherland added 12 points and James chipped in with 10.
Jersey Alexander led St. Fred’s with 11 points.
The Lady Cougars will travel to face OCS Friday with the outright district title on the line. OCS edged Lincoln Prep 42-39 last night to stay within a game of the Lady Cougars.
