Durham's 31 not enough for Sacred Heart
The Lions' star had a big game, but Cherokee was simply too much and posted a 54-46 win.
Sacred Heart's Ashley Durham attracts a lot of attention as South Jersey basketball's leading scorer; however, the 5-foot-6 guard doesn't want to be the be-all and end-all for her team.
Nevertheless, that's what she was in the first half of yesterday's game against Cherokee in the second day of the Future Stars Shootout at the Shore, a showcase event hosted by Mainland.
Durham, a junior, scored 15 of lethargic Sacred Heart's 18 points in the first half against the taller Chiefs. Cherokee, from the ultra-tough Olympic Conference, carried an eight-point lead into the locker room at intermission and went on to win the nonleague contest, 54-46.
"If we played our team game in the first half, it would have been a different story," said Durham, who scored a game-high 31 points, nearly six more than she has been averaging this season. "Practice wasn't good yesterday. We were tired and dragging and not focused."
Sacred Heart (19-2), which leads the Cape Atlantic League National Division II, tied the game at 42-42 and 44-44 early in the fourth quarter, as senior guard Kaity Lent, sophomore swingman Leah Braidi and junior guard Wonje Lungu came alive.
However, Villanova-bound Laura Sweeney, a 6-2 forward/center averaging 19.2 points a game, scored four of her 15 points during a 10-point run that saw the Chiefs accelerate to a 54-44 lead that proved too much for Sacred Heart to overcome.
Cherokee, 18-4 and leading the Olympic's American Division, played a 2-3 zone defense to pin down Durham. The tactic couldn't slow the Lions' sharpshooter. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart mounted a comeback after switching to man defense in the final quarter.
"We were making sloppy passes," said Sweeney, who pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. "We had a lapse in defense.
"Ashley is a great player, but one girl can't control a whole game."
Sophomore forward Courtney Escudero played a big part in Cherokee's late-game run, scoring four of her team-high 16 points on back-door layups.
"Courtney really stepped up," Sweeney said. "She made good passes and played great defense."
Notes.
Cherokee has won six in a row. . . . The tournament concludes today with Washington Township taking on Lower Cape May; Shore Regional vs. Mainland; Willingboro vs. Colts Neck; Trenton Central vs. Holy Spirit; and Trenton Catholic vs. Absegami.
Cherokee 13 13 14 14 - 54
Sacred Heart 6 12 17 11 - 46
CH: Courtney Escudero 16, Erin Farrell 4, Tara Mangold 5, Monica Roeder 4, Laura Sweeney 15, Tiffany Turner 6, Stacy Wixted 4.
SH: Nikki Conroy 1, Leah Braidi 2, Ashley Durham 31, Kaity Lent 10, Womje Lungu 2.