Mt. Caramel ousts Temple Christian

By: BY CHRIS HUMPHREYS | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: March 06, 2010

The Temple Christian School girls’ basketball team rallied from 31-13 halftime deficit to put a fourth-quarter scare into Mt. Caramel Academy on Friday in the VACA state semifinals at Timberlake Christian School.

The Crusaders’ Kameren Marshall had just made her second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to cut the Warriors’ lead to 42-34 with four minutes to play, but Temple Christian couldn’t get any closer as Mt. Caramel advanced to today’s VACA state championship with a 50-36 win.

The Warriors face Faith Christian-Roanoke in today’s title game at 4 p.m.

The Crusaders (13-3) close their season against Grace Christian in the consolation game at 1 p.m.

“We didn’t get the start that we wanted and obviously Mt. Caramel did get the start they wanted,” Temple coach Bobby Owen said.

“We needed to take care of the ball and do a better job of getting defensive rebounds. But, the girls gave it a shot. They gave it all they had.”

The first half was a nightmare for the Crusaders. They turned the ball over eight times against Mt. Caramel’s full-court trapping defense, which led to several easy layups for the Warriors as they jumped out to a 19-8 lead going into the second quarter.

The second quarter was just as bad for Temple, although this time it was the Crusaders’ shooting that let them down. Temple Christian shot just 8 percent from the field in second as Mt Caramel took an 18-point lead into locker room.

The Crusaders came out hot in the third quarter, though. Temple Christian went on a 5-0 run to start the second half and outscored the Warriors 10-7 in the third by shooting 56 percent from the field. The Crusaders also went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter and eventually cut the Warriors lead to eight points on Marshall’s 3-pointer.

“I’m very proud of my girls,” Owen said. “They are young. I started two 8th-graders, two sophomores and a junior. I couldn’t be more proud of the talent and character they have displayed all year. They could have laid down and died, just given up, or they could make a game of it and that’s what they did.”

Ellen Wailes, Marshall and Anitra Thomas led Temple Christian with eight points apiece. Alysha Jenkins led the Warriors with 17 points. Kaitlyn Seal added 12.