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Saturday, February 17, 2001
Alice trio leads team in a 59-48 win
Smith, Fuller and Santos combine for 46 of team’s points to secure decision
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
KINGSVILLE - For Alice High School girls basketball coach Tracy Zamora, advancing beyond the area round of playoffs was simply a matter of her frontline players rebounding from a subpar performance in bi-district play.
That they did on Friday. Literally.
The baseline trio of Mari Santos, Akylah Fuller and Tara Smith combined for 46 points and dominated the boards as the Lady Coyotes downed Gregory-Portland 59-48. The victory places Alice in the Class 4A regional round, where it will meet either San Antonio Roosevelt or Los Fresnos.
"We had a great game from them," Zamora said of her frontline. "They didn't have that good of a game against (bi-district opponent Pharr-San Juan-Alamo), and they knew we needed this type of play to advance."
Just who would advance was in doubt until the final quarter. The Lady Coyotes (22-8) were leading 42-39, and neither team seemed to be able to take control of the game, with the largest lead up to that point being six points by Alice in the second quarter.
But a couple of minor defensive adjustments sparked the Lady Coyotes.
"We just switched kids in a couple of positions," Zamora said. "We just moved people around and wanted to pick up the tempo."
Alice picked up the tempo and the Lady Wildcats went cold from the floor. The Lady Coyotes ran off nine consecutive points to start the quarter, while G-P (24-9) failed to convert on its first seven trips of the fourth, finally scoring with just under five minutes remaining.
That realized one of the two worst fears of G-P coach Terra Uptergrove.
"We didn't have the shooting. I was worried about that coming in," she said. "But Alice has a very good team. I knew that coming in, too."
Being a good team, Alice exploited Uptergrove's other worst fear - inside strength. The Lady Coyotes ruled the boards with a 38-22 edge. And with G-P having fourth-quarter shooting woes, the Lady Wildcats weren't getting many second chances on missed shots.
For the first three quarters, Fuller, a freshman, was the trouble spot for the Lady Wildcats. In three quarters of play, she grabbed six rebounds and scored 20 points, the majority of those coming on put-backs, or plays where she won remarkable inside position.
"I just posted up," Fuller said. "I knew we can handle them inside. It was just a matter of getting position inside."
She did throughout the game, but earned her fourth foul late in the third quarter and was sent to the bench.
Her presence wasn't needed, though. Smith, who closed with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Santos, who had 11 points and eight boards, controlled the fourth quarter. In the final frame, Smith had four points and four rebounds, while Santos had seven points and grabbed four boards.
Alice 59, Gregory-Portland 48
Gregory-Portland 12 12 15 9-48
Alice 14 13 15 17-59
Gregory-Portland - Abigail Mayo 6, Marie Pustejovsky 12, Athena Ward 6, Haley Chandler 13, Jennifer Boesen 3, Andrea Pereidam 6, Bethany Hopkins 2.
Alice - Lisa Burkhalter 2, Heather Hernandez 4, Akylah Fuller 20, Megan Lowman 7, Tara Smith 15, Mari Santos 11.
3-point goals - Gregory-Portland - Pustejovsky 1, Chandler 2. Alice - Lowman.
Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com
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a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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