Rock Point starts fast, advances to semis

By Quentin Jodie | Feb 21, 2020 | Basketball, Sports |

PRESCOTT

The Rock Point girls’ basketball team set the tone early as they advanced into today’s Arizona 1A state semifinals with a 64-42 win over Williams on Thursday night.

The second-seeded Lady Cougars, who improve to 23-4 overall, opened the contest with a 19-2 advantage before cruising the rest of the way.

Rock Point coach Andrew Reed said the fast start was a result of the comments made by Williams coach Phillip Echeverria.

“We played them before but a couple of days ago their coach said they were going to be ready for us,” Reed said. “We just wanted to send a message across that we were going to be ready for them too.”

The Cougars definitely sent that message as Williams had a tough time adjusting in that opening quarter.

Williams played much better in the next stanza as they got within 33-20 at the break but Rock Point used another run to open a 52-24 cushion heading into the fourth.

With a sizable lead, Reed used his bench extensively in the fourth as 11 players scored in their 22-point win.

Junior guard Tierra John led the Cougars with 19 points while Rylisha Begay and Tamira John added nine points apiece.

For Williams, senior Maegan Ford finished with a team-high 18 points while junior Sydnee Mortensen added 13.

Rock Point will play No. 4 Fort Thomas at 5 p.m. at Yavapai Community College in Prescott.

“We’re going to play like how we played tonight,” Reed said. “We’re not going to change anything, we’re just going to play tough defense.”