By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
FRANKFORT – For most of the evening Dec. 26, it looked like the Northwestern Tigers had spent themselves during their first-round upset of the host Hot Dogs in the Frankfort Holiday Tournament. Considering their opponent was Class 2A second-ranked Winchester, that was not a good thing.
The Golden Falcons spent three quarters building a mammoth 16-point lead before finishing off Northwester, 53-37, in the championship. Winchester finishes the 2009 portion of its schedule at 12-0.
Winchester’s dominance had not been the result of a surge at any time. Rather, the Falcons and star post player Sarah Hamm had steadily controlled play from the outset as Winchester led by seven at the end of one quarter and nine at the half.
A 7-0 spurt at the start of the third quarter took the lead to 16, and it remained there at the end of the stanza. There was little reason to believe the fourth quarter held anything but a lot of bench time for both squads.
That is why they say appearances can be deceiving. The Tigers began the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run that quickly grew to 14-6. Suddenly, the lead was just eight, 45-37, with a little less than three minutes to play.
Northwestern (7-5) had been quicker and more sound throughout the final quarter, and there was reason to believe the Tigers might pull off the miraculous comeback.
Hamm saw to it that would not happen. The Butler-bound 6’3” senior scored the next four points for Winchester, and the Golden Falcons closed the game on an 8-0 run to register the victory.
Hamm finished the evening with a game-high 19 points for Winchester, which next plays in the Randolph County Tournament Jan. 6-9 at Randolph Southern. Northwestern, which next competes in the Howard County Tournament Jan. 7-9 at Taylor, was led by 10 points from both junior Rachel Lowden and sophomore Kylie Ballard.
Northwestern had reached the final by surprising host Frankfort, rallying in the second half for a 45-41 victory. Winchester had no need of a rally in the morning session in completely dismantled North White, 64-13.
Frankfort Tournament
Semifinals
Northwestern 45, Frankfort 41
Winchester 64, North White 13
North White at Frankfort (third place)
Winchester 53, Northwestern 37 (championship)
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