Woodbridge Lady Blue Raiders girls basketball team photo courtesy of Woodbridge sports page
Trailing by 11 points at halftime, Woodbridge turned up the defensive pressure, created double-digit turnovers and advanced to the DIAA quarterfinals with a win at Lake Forest 47-43 Friday night.
The 9th seeded Blue Raiders found themselves down 30-19 at the half as Lake was “hitting on all cylinders” in the 2nd quarter. The Spartans dominated on the glass with Kirja Hickman and Gabrielle Almonte constantly creating “second chance” opportunities. Lake out scored Woodbridge 21-11 in that 2nd quarter.
The Blue Raiders pressure in the 3rd quarter provided break-away chances but they were only able to close the gap to 34-27 with 8:00 to play.
Juniors Payton Keeler and De’Asya Jones recorded 6 steals each and started to convert in the final quarter. Keeler gave her team their first lead of the night with a 3-point play at the 4:54 mark. They increased the advantage off another steal and 2 free throws by Keeler, to lead 41-36.
Lake kept the game to one possession until the final :30. It was 43-42 in favor of Woodbridge when once again the defensive pressure paid dividends as sophomore Kamryn Spence scored off a Lake turnover, followed by foul shots by Reghan Robinson and Ke’ira Parker to make the final 47-43.
The Blue Raiders were led by Keeler with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals. Jones scored 14 points and also recorded 6 steals. Tianna Neal pulled down 11 rebounds. Woodbridge advances to the quarterfinals where they will travel to #1-seed Caravel for a 7:00 tip off Monday night.
Lake senior Gabrielle Almonte paced her team with 15 points, while fellow senior Karly Cain added 12. The Spartans finished a very fine season at 17-5
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