Miah Brooks and Layne Doctson set up for a rebound in the Lady Eagles’ win over Greene County. (Staff Photo)

Staff Report
(Feb. 19, 2010)

Montgomery Academy coach Glenn Sylvest wanted to see just how far his Lady Eagles had come in a year.

He got the answer he was looking for.

The Lady Eagles used relentless pressure to beat Greene County, 71-59, in a rematch of last year’s Class 3A Central Regional semifinal at Alabama State. Montgomery Academy advanced to the finals where it will face top-ranked Sumter County on Saturday at 10 a.m.

“This was a test to see where we were,” Sylvest said. “We were at the same junction as last year. What a difference a year makes. Our girls were more confident. They show it in our fast start.”

Greene County had defeated Montgomery Academy one year ago in the same scenario but Morgan had warned his team not to be overconfident heading into Thursday’s game.

“Last year, they missed several free throws and it hurt them,” Morgan said. “I knew they were better than what they showed. And we tried to tell our team not to be looking at last year too much. We certainly respect them now.”

The Lady Eagles (23-5) forced 10 turnovers in the first half and built a 13-point lead at halftime. But the Tigers fought back and pulled to within four points late in the third quarter and had numerous opportunities to shave more off the Montgomery Academy lead.

“When we got to within four, I thought their coach did a good job of adjusting to what we were doing,” Morgan said. “We ran our motion (offense) and I thought they would go man-to-man but they stayed in the zone and it worked for them.”

Sylvest chose not to fall into a trap that hurt his team a year ago. Instead of changing defenses, he chose to change the offense, or at least slow down the pace.

“They got close because we started to run with them and that wasn’t what we wanted to do,” Sylvest said. “I told our team to slow the pace and let the game come to them. They missed some shots in that stretch and we slowly built the lead again.”
The Eagles went up 20 early in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 16-0 to ice the win.

Laprecious Naylon led Greene County (22-7)with 25 points while Sharee Williams had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Alexia Williams had 18 points.

Montgomery Academy was led by Meredith Lee’s 21 points while Miah Brooks had 12 points.