State Tournament Semi-Finals

Surry Runnin’ Patriots 66 New Life Storm 56

On Friday night, the Storm battled like they had never battled before. Surry’s press, though the Storm had prepared for it, did admittedly cause some problems. On defense, Surry’s athleticism propelled them into the lane for hard lay-ups and second chance points. The Storm fought hard to adapt to the press and cut off the lane on defense while attempting to win the battle of the boards on both ends. As hard as they fought, they found themselves with an 18 point deficit at the half. They refused to give up, and resolved to come back even harder in the second half. The answer on defense seemed to be a 2-1-2 zone, as Surry could not knock down shots. The lay-ups that came so easily in the first half were no more, and our defensive intensity resulted in Surry turnover after turnover. The third quarter was nothing less than amazing. The Storm outscored Surry 25 to 6. Rebecca was hounded and went to the floor many times. Hannah Grace sparked a fire with consecutive steals for easy lay-ups. Right before the end of the quarter, Georgia scored a floater to put the Storm in the lead. The Storm hung close all the way to the end, but the win was not to be. The Storm left with their heads high, knowing that they had given their all. They received praise from even our opponent’s fans. The final score was 66-56, with 21 points from Hannah Grace and 18 points from Rebecca. Daryl and Anna led in rebounding with 12 and 11 boards, respectively.