VC drops round two to Central Catholic

The second match-up between VC and Central Catholic-Morgan City, had all the makings of a 12 round heavyweight title fight.

Both teams were battling back and forth all night long, and it came down to the very last seconds before this game would be decided.

“We stepped it up defensively” CCMC Head Coach Garret said. “We played them full-court man-to-man, and we then tried to take Ashailee (Brailey) out of the game as much as possible. She was just on fire, she made shots from everywhere. If we play up to
our potential we are going to see them (VC) again in the playoffs.”

CCMC (21-2, 9-0) behind the stellar play of Randi Brown and Meo Knight had a slim 23-19 lead heading into the halftime break.

The third quarter is where the game turned around and really felt like a playoff caliber game.

Down by four, VC (22-4, 7-2) stepped up and came out swinging.

Ashailee Brailey led the team in the third quarter with 11 of VC’s 16 points.

Nine of those three points came on three straight possessions for VC.

At the end of the third quarter, VC had a 35-29 point lead.

In the fourth quarter, VC was able to take a 40-31 lead.

That is where everything turned around for both of the Eagles teams.

With the nine point lead, VC decided they would attempt to eat away some of the clock, and CCMC was able to switch to its man-to-man defense and force several turnovers.

VC saw their lead dwindle from 40-31, to a 42-40 deficit, thanks to an 11-0 run CCMC made .

With 37 seconds left on the clock VC found themselves down 44-42, when Leah Camel hit one of her two free throws.

Then on the next possession by CCMC, Meoi Knight missed the first of her one-in-one free throws.

On the very next VC possession Kelly White turned the ball over, and with six seconds left on the clock Randi Brown hit both of her free throws to give CCMC a 46-43 advantage.

VC immediately in-bounded the ball to Brailey who drove the ball down the length of the court and was fouled while attempting her three point shot.

Brailey would make the first of her three free throws, but in between the first and second free throw there was a clock dispute.

When Brailey got the chance to shoot her second free throw, she missed it, forcing her to miss the third.

VC was unable to recover the rebound, giving CCMC the 46-44 victory.

“Down the line it was my decision to pull it out and try to kill some of the clock,” VC Head Coach Kim Guidry said. “We had two or three turnovers in a row that just let them back in the door, and a good team like that you have to put them away or they hang
around like they did tonight.”

Leading the way in scoring for CCMC, as they always are, were Randi Brown and Meo Knight.

Brown scored a game high 24 points, and Knight added 15.

Hallie Putin and Magan Landry rounded out the scoring for CCMC with four and three points respectively.

Ashailee Brailey led VC in scoring with 21 points. 15 of her 21 came from behind the three point arch.

Kaylen Collins for VC also added 10 points.

Katie Frith was able to add seven of her own for VC.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor