Ashlee Francis' big second half lifts Stratford over Tattnall Square
After looking all week for someone to get shots to fall, the Stratford girls basketball team found its answer in the second half Friday against Tattnall Square.
Ashlee Francis scored all but two of her game-high 25 points in the second half as she lifted Stratford to a 34-21 win in GHSA Region 7A-A play over the previously unbeaten Trojans in a battle of teams ranked in the top five in the Score Atlanta Class A private school rankings.
Francis scored the first seven points of the final quarter as the fifth-ranked Eagles (13-2, 2-1 Region 7A-A) blew open what was a three-point game after three quarters.
Meanwhile, third-ranked Tattnall (13-1, 1-1) made just one of the six shots it attempted in the final eight minutes.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Francis: Stratford needed someone in the second half to finish off plays, and Francis provided that spark. She scored inside and outside, on transition and on set shots from the perimeter. Francis even matched up against 6-foot-5 junior Abby Rouse at times in the second half, giving up 8 inches, and she still found ways to score. She also had 11 rebounds, including seven in the first quarter.
Carey Woodcock: She was the only other player to score a field goal for Stratford. Her bucket with 28 seconds to go until halftime was the only field goal of the second quarter for Stratford, and her 3-pointer with 2:40 to go in the third quarter gave the Eagles the lead for good.
Allie Gordon: She led Tattnall with eight points and seven rebounds.
TURNING POINT
After coming alive with 12 points in the second quarter, Francis sank a 3-pointer 59 seconds into the fourth that completely turned momentum Stratford's way. The shot gave Stratford an eight-point lead, and Tattnall scored just one basket after that.
OBSERVATIONS
Slow second quarter: Credit tight defense or blame cold fingers, but neither Stratford nor Tattnall could get much to fall in the second quarter. The teams combined to shoot combined 2-of-18 from the field, with each team making a basket. Tattnall led 8-7 at halftime.
Clamping down: As Francis got hot for Stratford offensively, the Eagles kept Tattnall from getting many good looks.
WORTH MENTIONING
Keeping things under control: Despite the cold shooting at times Friday, both teams took fairly good care of the basketball. Stratford had just seven turnovers, while Tattnall committed just 10.
ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT
Stratford's boys handed Tattnall its first loss in region play, holding off a late Tattnall run for a 67-58 victory. Quintez Cephus scored 13 of his team-high 22 points in the final quarter for Stratford (10-3, 2-1), while teammate O'Showen Williams added 21 points. Aubrien Kemp had 24 points for Tattnall which was coming off a win Tuesday at Wilkinson County and drops to 11-3, 1-1.
THEY SAID IT
Stratford head coach Ed Smith on grinding through a low-scoring first half: "With Tattnall and the way they play, they're so aggressive and so physical. You just have to keep plugging. Give our girls credit. They stayed with it, kept us in it in the first half defensively and then just got some shots to go in the second half, got the ball into Ashlee some, and she made some shots."
Smith on bouncing back from Tuesday's loss to FPD: "When you make shots, you're a pretty good ballclub. That's what we didn't do Tuesday night, but (Friday) in the second half we made some shots, and that was the difference."
Francis on what worked in the second half: "We had to keep the tempo, keep the game moving, pick it up."
Tattnall head coach Todd Whetsel on the Trojans' 9-of-40 night from the field: "We just couldn't stick it in. It's the most intense game of the year, and we had the fewest turnovers all year, but shots just didn't fall for us."
Whetsel on Francis' performance: "Francis is a great player, and she got them going in the second half. I told our players at halftime that somebody was going to make a run with a couple of shots, and it just wasn't us."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Tattnall travels to FPD on Tuesday, while Stratford hosts Twiggs County.
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Ashlee Francis' big second half lifts Stratford over Tattnall Square ."