NCHEAC State Tournament

Semi-Final: New Life Storm 32 Forsyth Hawks 57

Playing for a spot in the state championship game, the NLC Storm lost to the Forsyth Hawks, the same opponent and gym in which they opened the season in November. The Storm hung on well for the first quarter. They had success getting the ball to Shelby in the high post against the Forsyth zone defense. In the second quarter, the Hawks begain to pull away, and led by 15 at the half. Two baskets by Mary ignited a short Storm rally at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, but then the Hawks answered and gradually pulled away to the final margin. Forsyth spread the floor and was able to repeatedly hurt the Storm with dribble pentration, as NLC was slow to rotate to stop the dribble. Shelby led the Storm with 9 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 steals. Emly dished out 5 assists.

Consolation Game: New Life Storm 48 Cabarrus Stallions 56 (OT)

Playing for 3rd place in the state for the 3rd consecutive season, the NLC Storm got out to a big lead but could not hold off the Cabarrus Stallions, who claimed an overtime victory. In the first half, the Storm moved the ball around tremendously and played some of their best basketball of the season in going ahead by as many as 16 on the way to a 34-23 half-time advantage. In the second half, the Storm was held to only 12 points as the Stallions stormed back to tie the game and send it to overtime, where the Storm had nothing left. Emily led the Storm with 10 points, 7 assists, and 6 steals. Shelby pulled down 16 rebounds.

Shelby was named to the All-Tournament team.