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High school basketball: Chestatee sweeps St. Pius
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Chestatee girls 47, St. Pius X 42

Chesatee 47

Porter 5, Bright 2, Bailey 7, Wilson 18, Robertson 15.

St. Pius X 42

Tracy 6, Reed 11, Jackson 11, Conboy 2, Payne 4, Crews 4, Taylor-Burns 4.

St. Pius X 7 4 17 14—42

Chestatee 10 10 13 14—47

Chestatee boys 65, St. Pius X 58 OT

Chestatee 65

Brooks 6, Gibson 12, Boisclair 5, Chandler 7, B. Jovaag 10, Smith 21, Beck 4.

St. Pius X 58

Leipold 17, McKay 7, Brohm 17, Elstad 8, Mosunjac 4, Onyeka 3, Cotter 2.

St. Pius X 17 9 13 12 7—58

Chestatee 14 14 5 18 14—65

All substance and no flash, that’s how Chestatee did it.

With a nine-girl rotation, two full-court presses and timely rebounds and made free throws, the Lady War Eagles upset Class AAA’s sixth-ranked St. Pius X, 47-42 on Friday night at Chestatee High.

"It’s a great win," said Chestatee coach Web Daniel. "I feel like we’re a top team when we come to play, and the girls were fired up for this game."

Especially junior shooting guard Chelsea Wilson and sophomore center Peyton Robertson who gave Chestatee a dual threat on the inside and from the outside all night.

Wilson finished as the game’s leading scorer with 18 points and three assists, while Robertson had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.

"Peyton and Chelsea practice working together and they really came together tonight," Daniel said.

The Lady War Eagles started strong, going on a 7-2 run to begin the game thanks in part to an inpenetrable 1-2-2 trapping press.

St. Pius, however, made a run of its own to tie the game at seven and that’s when Daniel switched things up starting a game trend that would carry his team to a victory.

With the starting lineup, sans 5-foot-2 point guard Jessica Porter, having an average height of 5-10 and long wing spans, a zone press did the trick.

When the Lady Golden Lions made their run, Daniel went with a smaller lineup and a man-to-man fullcourt press.

"We’ve got two teams," Daniel said, "one that’s going to play zone and one that’s going to play man and we just work on it everday.

"We call the second group the black team, and they’re job is to get the other team tired. They understand their roles and played them perfectly tonight."

Chestatee finished the first quarter and started the second on a 7-0 run, capped by a Wilson pass to Shelby Bright who was wide open thanks to a back screen, to take a 14-7 lead.

The Lady War Eagles didn’t relinquish that lead for the duration of the half due, in part, to holding St. Pius X to four points in the second quarter. The other part of the 20-11 halftime lead was an eight-second, four-point scoring spurt headed by a Robertson turnaround bank shot and a Melissa Bailey steal and layup.

Runs were the tale of the second half with Chestatee never giving up the lead but coming close.

The Lady War Eagles ability to respond and hit big shots thwarted any Lady Golden Lion comeback opportunity.

Case in point came late in the third when St. Pius X’s Nikki Reed hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to three points at 27-24. Chestatee’s Wilson responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers of her own.

Reed and teammate Misha Jackson each hit for 11 points to lead St. Pius X.

Late in the fourth, the Lady Golden Lions pulled within one point thanks to an 8-0 run. A Robertson free throw and layup ended the Lady Lions’ attempt to take the lead.

The free throws made by Chestatee late in the game, even though it maintained the lead throughout, put the icing on a fundamentally sound cake.

As did a late rebound by the smallest girl on the court, Porter.

"We shoot free throws everyday," Daniel said. " I tell them it can win ball games. You’ve got to make them at the end and we did that tonight.

And as for Porter, "She’s a great rebounder, probably our second best outside Peyton (Robertson)," Daniel said.

Chestatee next plays at 7 tonight when it takes on Milton at Chesatee.

Chestatee boys 65, St. Pius X 58 OT

The War Eagles scored 14 points in overtime while holding St. Pius X to seven to get the win Friday night at Chestatee.

Chestatee senior point guard Branden Smith lead all scorers with 21 points. Andrew Gibson had 12 for the War Eagles and Branden Jovaag added 10.

Down 39-33 heading into the fourth, thanks to a five-point third quarter, Chestatee scored 18 fourth-quarter points to send the game into overtime.

The War Eagles pulled within one point at 50-49 on a Gibson 3-pointer from the corner with 1:53 left in the game.

They took their first lead since late in the second quarter when Jackson Chandler got an offensive rebound and hit a reverse layup with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

St. Pius X’s Jordan Brohm tied the game with 11 seconds remaining by hitting one-of-two free throws.

Brohm and fellow senior Andy Leipold finished with 17 a piece to lead the Golden Lions.

Chestatee won the game in overtime by going 7-of-11 from the free throw line and not missing a shot from the field.

The War Eagles return to action at 8:30 tonight when they play Milton at Chestatee.

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