AMD Industries will defend championship
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
AMD Industries will get a chance to defend its Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League championship after a semifinal win over Dax Thomas State Farm Monday.
AMD (8-3) used a 17-3 run and held Dax Thomas State Farm to only one field goal over seven minutes to pull away for a 48-36 win, showing its ability to overcome a slow start that featured numerous missed attempts from within five feet of the basket early on.
“The key for that run was just us getting up and playing better defensively,” AMD head coach Bria Rathway said. “We wanted to try to make them uncomfortable and we were finally able to start finishing at the basket.”
The run started after Dax Thomas State Farm (7-4) started the second half off with a 7-0 spurt to take a 26-19 lead. But Mallory Daly was the fulcrum that started things off for AMD Industries.
She buried a contested 3-pointer from the wing to kick off the run, followed by a pair of free throws from Ringgold’s Kirra Gerard. After a free throw by Trinity’s Eden Williamson, Bailie Brinson (Elizabeth Forward) scored off a great feed from Marina Grado (Gateway) before another from the line by Williamson made it 28-26.
Dax Thomas State Farm’s Chloe Pordash hit a 3-pointer for her first basket of the second half before Grado buried two threes and Williamson scored off a steal for eight straight points for AMD.
“We really wanted to force (Pordash) and our length allowed us to get her to turn it over a few times going to the basket,” Rathway said. “Marina stepped up and hit some big shots and we were able to get some baskets off our transition game.”
A basket by Pordash and two by Thomas Jefferson’s Lydia Zoglmann pulled State Farm back to within four (39-35), but back-to-back baskets by Brinson and Williamson pushed the lead up to eight with 2:14 remaining.
Grado and Brinson combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:12 to seal the win for AMD.
“We did a great job making Pordash try to adjust her shot and the girls did a good job overall,” Rathway said. “Bailie was phenomenal on the boards and the length of Mallory and Eden weren’t letting them get too much inside.”
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