Lady Saints’ dream season ends in semifinals

By Jason Williams

Nashville, TN – For 28 consecutive games, Briarcrest had played almost perfect basketball. But in the semifinals of the state tournament, nothing went right for the previously undefeated Lady Saints.

Briarcrest’s season ended Friday with a 53-36 loss – its only loss of the season – against Brentwood Academy (22-6).

“We were completely out of character today in the first half,” said Briarcrest head coach Lee Smith. “We shot the first nine shots on jump shots, and that’s not who we are. You can’t come out on a night like this and play against a team like Brentwood and throw away a first half and think you’re going to come back and win.”

The Lady Saints were dominated in almost every facet of the game. They made only one basket in the first half, and it occurred as the halftime buzzer sounded. They were outrebounded 39-19 for the game.

“It is very frustrating,” Smith said. “If someone had bet me that we would’ve played like this, I wouldn’t have believed it. I wouldn’t have taken that bet.”

Brentwood Academy eighth grader Sydni Harvey was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points. Briarcrest’s Jasmine Cincore finished with 11. Photo by Karlee Wakeley.

Miss Basketball finalist Jasmine Cincore led the Lady Saints with 11 points. The University of Nebraska signee didn’t give excuses to her team’s poor play.

“We turned it on really late,” Cincore said. “Second half, we decided to turn it on, but it was too late. But we were ready for it. We just didn’t come out and execute.”

Eighth-grader Sydni Harvey was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points.

Junior India Hall finished with 15 points. She scored 10 points in the third quarter to help the Eagles’ lead grow from 12 to 21.

The Lady Saints were able to string together some three-pointers in the fourth quarter that cut the lead to 12, but the Eagles’ youthful roster had built an insurmountable lead.

“While we played horrible, I don’t want to discredit Brentwood,” Smith said. “Brentwood did a great job, and they’re young. With the size they have, they’re going to be something to reckon with in the future.”

Brentwood Academy will play Ensworth at 5 p.m. Saturday in Allen Arena.

Briarcrest girls remain perfect after holding off Father Ryan

By Jason Williams

Eads, TN – Briarcrest girls basketball head coach Lee Smith called his team’s position “unfamiliar territory” after a 59-44 victory over Father Ryan in Division II-AA sub-state action.

The Lady Saints improved to 28-0 and clinched a bid to the state tournament in Nashville next weekend.

“This is going to be a tough one,” Smith said. “We’ve got to play Brentwood (Academy). We want to enjoy today. We’re going to start looking at film tomorrow and get ready to play. It’s good to be where we are … We know that every time we play, (opponents) are going to bring their best against us.”

Jasmine Cincore, the reigning Miss Basketball, scored 28 points to lead Briarcrest in a game that was closer than the final score indicates. Cincore scored 13 points, all from the free throw line, in the fourth quarter to continue the Lady Saints’ run at a perfect season.

Cincore struggled against the full court pressure applied by the Father Ryan defense in the opening quarter with three quick turnovers. But Smith talked to his star player one-on-one to calm her nerves.

“I thought Jas was trying to do too much at times,” Smith said. “I wanted her to just settle down and play. Jas made two or three turnovers, and that’s uncharacteristic of Jas. But she wanted it so bad. She wanted to win. I just told her to relax.”

The University of Nebraska signee responded with 11 points in the second quarter to push the Lady Saints to a 23-17 lead at the break.

Defensively, Briarcrest had a difficult time guarding the Father Ryan offense. The Irish used an array of back screens that resulted in open lay-ups in the opening quarter. The Lady Saints switched to a zone defense to start the second quarter and caused seven turnovers.

“They were hurting us and getting loose under the basket,” Smith said. “… We went to a zone, and I thought we kind of contained them good in the zone. Then second half when they adjusted to our zone, we went to a man so it was just chess play.”

Father Ryan was led by senior Sarah Gromos, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Gromos hit a jumper with 6:51 remaining in the fourth quarter to get her team within four points, but the Lady Saints put on a free throw shooting clinic to extend their lead.

Brynn Holden made consecutive jumpers, and Briarcrest made 17 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to push the Lady Saints to a hard-fought victory.

The Lady Saints will play Brentwood Academy in the semifinal round in Allen Arena at Lipscomb University at 1:15 p.m. on Friday. Ensworth and Harpeth Hall will battle at 10 A.M. in the other semifinal round game.

“We’re taking it one game at a time,” Cincore said. “The first game is a barrier. It’s a wall to push through. If we push through that, there’s no stopping us.”

Mary Francis Hoots had nine points for the Irish, who stood toe-to-toe with the undefeated Lady Saints. Smith praised the Irish after the game and said his team was forced to play ugly basketball.

“The thing about Father Ryan is they’re so well-coached,” Smith said. “(Father Ryan head coach) Jason (Larkin) does a great job with them. They make you play ugly basketball. They run their sets. They’re very, very sharp in what they do. They do all the little things well.”

Unofficial box score:

No.	BCS Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
34	Jasmine Cincore*	28	6	5	6	1	2	7-9	1-1	13-16
15	Brynn Holden*	12	6	0	2	0	0	3-6	1-1	5-6
32	Elise Holden*	11	2	2	3	1	1	4-7	1-2	2-2
22	Kathryn Newman*	3	0	0	1	0	0	1-2	1-2	0-0
14	Gabby Salazar*	2	4	3	1	0	0	1-4	0-2	0-0
30	Morgan Hunt	2	1	0	2	0	1	1-1	0-0	0-2
35	Kalynn Parks	1	2	0	1	0	0	0-2	0-0	1-2
10	Tatiana Love	0	0	0	2	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
21	Julianne Bryson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-1	0-1	0-0
23	Lindsey Taylor	0	1	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
24	Hannah Steele	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
Totals		59	22	10	18	2	4	17-30	4-9	21-28

No.	FR Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
33	Sarah Gromos	15	4	0	1	0	1	6-9	1-2	2-4
3	Mary Francis Hoots*	9	4	3	0	0	0	3-9	1-6	2-3
11	Audrey Burdge*	6	3	3	1	0	1	3-6	0-2	0-0
23	Katie Jordan	5	1	1	3	0	0	1-2	1-2	2-4
32	Allison Proctor	3	0	0	2	0	0	1-1	0-0	1-1
14	Tally Bishop	2	0	1	2	0	0	1-1	0-0	0-0
24	Abigail Wehby*	2	1	1	9	1	1	1-5	0-1	0-0
42	Emma Collins*	2	3	0	0	0	0	0-1	0-0	2-2
12	Olivia Rolick*	0	2	0	5	0	1	0-1	0-0	0-0
22	Maggie Rider	0	0	0	1	0	0	0-1	0-0	0-0
–	TEAM	–	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals		44	22	9	24	1	4	16-36	3-13	9-14