(Cherokee) Number one rated Cherokee, Washington defeated Atlantic 63-48 in a Class 3A girl’s semi-final basketball game at Cherokee on Wednesday night.
JeMae Nichols led the Braves with 27-points, Kenna Mongan scored 12, and Alexis Pingel added 11. Camile Zwiefel scored 9 points. Anna Paulsrud and Grace Anderson each scored two.
Haley Rasmussen led Atlantic with 15-points, Jada Jensen scored 14, and Maycie Waters finished with 10. Tessa Grooms scored 6-points, and Lauren Nicholas finished with two.
The game was knotted at 13-13 at the end of the first quarter and stayed close until the 3:29 mark to play in the first half when the Braves started a 10-0 run and built a 35-24 lead at the break—; sparked by Alexis Pingel’s 8 second-quarter points.
Cherokee, Washington raced out of the locker room in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 13-3 to gain a 17-point advantage 44-27 midway through the third quarter. But the Trojans kept battling. Waters knocked down a long-range shot, Rasmussen followed with five-straight points, and Jensen buried a three to close the gap to 44-37. Mongan stopped the Trojans 10-0 run with a field goal and a 46-37 advantage. The Trojans made another run at the lead. Jensen and Rasmussen splashed down two straight long-range shots to narrow the gap to 46-43. However, JeMae Nichols ended the frame with a bucket to give the Braves a 48-43 lead. That would be as close as Atlantic would get. Cherokee outscored the Trojans 14-5 in the final frame to seal the 63-48 win.
Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason was proud of the way his team battled back in the second half. “The kids never quit,” said Vargason. “Cherokee is a good basketball team and ranked number one for a reason. But you know, our kids came out and battled every second of that game.”
The Braves extend their record to 21-0 and take on Panorama in a Regional Final on Saturday night.
