Lady Cavs power past Warren County
Cavs move on to Elite 8, face rival SCPS
By Rich McGowan
WARRENTON-With its senior point guard with three fouls at halftime and leading scorer with three early in the third quarter, Calvary Day's girls basketball team was only a couple of ill-timed whistles from seeing their most important players on the bench.
But Sonny Canady and Kelsey Ellis played a near flawless - and foul-free -second half and the Cavaliers used a big third quarter to open up a large lead and coast into the Class A quarterfinal for the second time in three years in a 55-32 win over Warren County.
"You kind of gamble there when you play them with three fouls," said Calvary coach Jackie Hamilton. "But we didn't tell them to let up or do anything different, and our defense was pretty good the whole game."
Canady was charged her third personal foul with 3.5 seconds to go in the second quarter as the Cavs took a seven-point lead into halftime. Ellis got her third foul early in the third quarter.
Canady said playing in foul trouble tests a player's intelligence.
"You just have to play smart defense, good defense and hard defense with no stupid fouls after that," Canady said.
While neither Canady nor Ellis ever picked up a fourth foul, they did combine to take Warren County out of the game.
With Calvary leading 30-23 with under three minutes to play in the quarter, Canady found Ellis for an open jumpshot. Then Canady assisted on a 3-pointer from Emily Carter. A minute later Canady hit Ellis again for a baseline jumper, then Rachel LeGear closed out the half with a running jumper of her own. Calvary closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 39-23 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers outscored the Screaming Devils 15-6 in the period.
Canady had five assists in the third quarter and finished the game with 12 points and eight helpers.
"... Our strength is the quickness of the guards we have, and she can break down the defense and we get a good shot every time," Hamilton said. "We're a good shooting team and I thought we shot the ball exceptionally well today."
Ellis finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds while LeGear added 10 points.
"Everyone was real pumped at halftime," Candy said. "We keep saying 'Take it a quarter at a time. After the first quarter just be ahead and second quarter stay ahead.' And in the third quarter we came out ready to go."
The Cavaliers (28-2) advance to the state quarterfinal where they'll meet a familiar foe: Region 3-A cross-town rival Savannah Christian who defeated state-ranked No. 2 Randolph-Clay Wednesday.
While the Cavaliers defeated the Raiders three times this season, Canady said they won't be taking anything for granted.
"They're definitely a rival but you have to ready for them like they're any other team," Canady said. "I think we're definitely confident but at this stage any given team can win at any given time."
The Calvary-SCPS match-up will be Friday at 7 p.m. in Columbus.
CALVARY DAY (55)
Kelsey Ellis 21, Carter 3, Sonny Canady 12, Rachel LeGear 10, Baham 4, Badger 2, Burk 2, Poole 1.
WARREN COUNTY (32)
Candice Warthen 14, Takelsa Harris 10, Ty. Harris 3, Evans 5.
Halftime-24-17, CD.
Records-CD 28-2; WC 24-5.
