The Shadow
NARROWS — Covington came back from an eight-point halftime hole here Wednesday night.
But in the fourth quarter, Narrows quickly flipped the script.
The Green Wave outscored the Cougars 26-9 in the final period of a 57-45 victory in the semifinal round of the Pioneer District tournament.
Allison Grose had a big 21 point, eight rebound effort to lead the winners.
Audrey Riddle added 11 points and Cameryn Paczosa had 10.
Elaishja Helton and Amiah Hunter both scored 14 points for the Cougars, while Ariel Barber had six.
The Cougars outscored Narrows 15-2 in the third quarter before the Green Wave rallied in the final period.
Narrows (11-12) advances to Friday’s title game where they take on Parry McCluer.
The Fighting Blues (19-4) blew out Eastern Montgomery, 80-8, in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
Covington (9-15) will host Eastern Montgomery (7-17) in the tournament consolation game on Friday night at 6 p.m.
The Cougars will then turn around and play a Class 1, Region C quarterfinal on Monday at either George Wythe or Galax.
Tuesday’s Game
Covington locked up a Region C tournament berth on Tuesday night with a 61-45 victory over Bath County in the first round of the Pioneer tournament.
Barber scored 17 points, while Cristi Persinger added 13 for the Cougars, who led 26-21 at the half. Helton and Zy’onah Garrison both just missed double figures with nine points each.
“We played hard,” said Simmons-Brewster. “This was a big win for us. Our goal coming into the season was to finish second or third in the district (regular season). We got third. Our next goal is to get a home region game and we’re one step away from that. We’re just taking it one goal at a time.”
Emily Douglas had a team-high 12 points for the Chargers, while both Gabrie Herscher and Kassedi Estes added 11 apiece.
“We really wanted it tonight,” said Bath County coach Adam Frye. “I love my girls to death. They fought — every quarter — they gave it everything they had.
“Give credit to Covington,” he added. “They executed, they made it very hard to guard them and they won the battle of the boards. That was the story of the game. My girls did everything I asked them to do. Some of the changes I made just didn’t work. That’s my responsibility on that.”
The Chargers ended the season with a 6-15 record.
The six victories were the most for the program since winning the same number in 2013-2014.
“I hate that the ride is over,” Frye said. “We had a good season. A lot of ups and downs, but some of the ups were amazing — they really were. I would love to keep going, but we just couldn’t execute tonight. Covington executed their game plan very well. I wish them luck in the next round.”
