James Kenan girls push state-ranked Rosewood

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 27, 2014 1:48 PM

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Rosewood found the truth behind the adage "it's tough to beat a team three times in a season" Wednesday evening.

The second-seeded Eagles made key plays in the final two minutes and rallied for a 52-50 win over seventh-seeded James Kenan in second-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A girls' basketball playoffs.

Lexi Mercer pumped in a game-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Eagles, who have won all three meetings against the Tigers this season. Alicia Burns contributed 17 points.

Rosewood (23-1 overall) plays host to KIPP Pride (12-13) on Friday. Tip-off is 7 p.m. with a trip to the eastern regionals at stake.

Mercer's layup trimmed the Tigers' lead to 46-45 with fewer than three minutes to play. Kenan's next possession resulted in a steal by Mercer, who converted the go-ahead layup for a 47-46 lead.

Dezarae Phillips, who scored 19 points for the Tigers, had her shot blocked by Mercer. Krystal Yelverton easily scored a layup in transition to make it 49-46 with 59 seconds left.

"If you beat a team two times in a row you're probably better than they are," Rosewood head coach Rick Grantham said. "But, the psychology is that children have to understand that you still have to give your max effort. It was the execution phase that we're probably not going to get a high grade on tonight."

Nikki Judge sank a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to play that pulled the Tigers to within 49-48.

Burns grabbed a rebound off of Mercer's missed free throw and somehow got a one-handed circus shot to fall as she got pulled to the floor by a James Kenan defender.

The Tigers trailed 51-50 with three seconds left, but committed a costly turnover. Kenan turned the ball over nine times in the final quarter.

Burns sank one of two free throws with one second left to seal the win.

"I told the girls when it gets to tournament time you survive and move on," Grantham said. "It's not about how pretty it is or how big the margin is. As long as your name shows up on that line that means you're playing some more."

The Tigers' capitalized on their length and athleticism in their 2-3 zone to bother the Eagles' offense all night. Rosewood's guards had difficulty penetrating into the paint and the Eagles were often forced to settle for perimeter jump shots.

"I don't know how many blocked shots they had, but we were shooting into their hands," said Grantham, whose team won its sixth game decided by 10 points or less.

"We couldn't power it by them or through them at times. We didn't shoot it very well from distance tonight but we made big shots when we had to."