By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The only team to beat the Tipton-Rosemark Academy Lady Rebels during the 2018-19 season was the University School of Jackson. On Feb. 5, the Lady Rebels had a shot at avenging the loss to the Lady Bruins from Jan. 11 on their home floor of the TRA Gymnasium. For two quarters, the Lady Rebels were in position to deliver USJ its first defeat in league play. But the Lady Bruins caught fire early in the third quarter to erase a 29-26 halftime deficit to jump ahead by 11 points entering the fourth quarter. USJ would go on to prevail 64-47 to improve to 21-5 overall and 12-0 in league play. “One of the biggest thing they did was get us in foul trouble,” TRA Head Coach Cameron Pridemore said. “That kept us from getting out in our press and speeding the tempo up. That is something we do well. Us doing that it effected our offense a little bit. We went into a low in the third quarter. When you do that against them, they’re going to make you pay.” TRA was making USJ pay for mistakes and missed shots in the first half. Lady Rebel Megan Sanfratello got her team started offensively with a three-pointer. After her teammate Brianna Hall scored, Sanfratello drained an NBA-range three-pointer to make the score 7-7. Another Sanfratello trey gave TRA a 10-8 advantage. After Hall added a triple and a pair of foul shots, the Lady Rebels were ahead 15-14 heading into the second quarter. The Lady Rebels won the second quarter 14-12 behind contributions from Hall, Sanfratello and Abby West. West scored the final four points of the period for TRA to give the Lady Rebels a 29-26 lead at halftime. After West made a shot in the third period to give TRA a 31-29 lead, USJ proceeded with a 18-5 outburst to seize control of the game. “They shot the lights out,” Pridemore noted. “It was a 12 point swing in a minute to a minute and a half. We’ve got to stay consistent as far as our energy level throughout the game. Our offense once we got out of that low was pretty effective. “That third quarter killed us,” he added. “Foul trouble had something to do with that. We’ve got to stay out of foul trouble. Man they played well tonight. They shot the lights out. I told our girls, ‘The point differential was not indicative of the game.’ I felt like they didn’t get out played like the scoreboard indicated. We’ve still played hard and we competed. That two minute stretch of them just knocking down shots hurt us. It was huge.” USJ kept the hot shooting going during the fourth quarter when the Lady Bruins hit four three-pointers to made the score transform from 47-38 to 59-42. The Lady Bruins dropped the Lady Rebels to 23-2 on the season. Both of TRA’s defeats came at the hands of USJ. Pridemore said although the defeat was disappointing, he saw an opportunity to inspire his team throughout the rest of February and hopefully through March.
“The biggest thing is not letting it get us too down — still focusing,” he concluded. “We’re still going to have a bye in the Regional Tournament. I told them let’s learn from it and just move on. The sun is going to come up tomorrow and we’re still in the same position we would have been in either way. Let’s just get better and we still have plenty ahead.”
