Amelia Academy Lady Patriots Add to Winning Streak
2012, Jan 23 – The Amelia Academy Lady Patriots continued their winning streak in conference play by hitting the 90-point mark in both games last week. Full court pressure defense proved to be too much for Brunswick Academy and Richmond Christian as the Lady Patriots would jump out to big first quarter leads and never look back.
On Tuesday night, Amelia Academy would use a 34-5 run in the first quarter to gain control over the Vikings of Brunswick Academy. A solid second quarter mixing a 1-3-1 zone and transition offense would yield the Lady Patriots a 49-15 halftime advantage. In the second half, Amelia Academy would use some set plays in their half-court offense that resulted in a 91-38 victory.
Junior point guard Megan J. would notch a triple-double with a career-high 27 points, 11 assists, and 10 steals. She also connected on 3 treys on the night. Senior Lauren V. just missed a triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Senior Amara E. had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals. Freshman Chelsea D. and junior Darlene H. each had 7 points, while senior Holly S. and junior Kristyn C. added 6 points each.
On Thursday night, Amelia Academy traveled to Richmond Christian and used their full court press to set the tone early. Following a sluggish start, the Lady Patriots answered an opening 4-0 run by the Warriors and closed out the first quarter ahead 28-10. They would use a 21-1 run in the second quarter to lead 49-11 at half.
Amara would register a triple-double with 21 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists. She was 2 steals shy of a quadruple-double. Lauren would lead all scorers with 28 points, along with 19 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists. Megan added 21 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Chelsea was the other Lady Patriot in double figures with 14 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. Rounding out the scoring were Darlene and Kristyn with 4 points and 2 points, respectively. Sophomore Casey V. also grabbed 7 rebounds on the night.
Coach Frank Shanaberger said, “Our full court press worked well in both games. We were able to use it to make the other teams play a style that they don’t practice or want to play. When we are playing lockdown defense and running our break, we are a fun bunch of girls to watch. When we can play like that, we feel we can play with anyone.
“For Megan and then Amara to record triple-doubles is quite a feat. It is definitely not an easy thing to do and goes to show just how complete a ball player both girls are. Lauren was one block away from us having two girls do it in one game.”
The Lady Patriots (10-4, 7-0 in VCC) are currently ranked #2 in the Division III state poll. They have a 3-game week coming up, where they will put their 24-game winning streak in conference play on the line against Kenston Forest on Tuesday and Southampton Academy on Thursday. Amelia Academy will then play Denbigh Baptist, who is ranked #7 in the Division Two state poll, on Saturday in a non-conference match-up.