St. Michael girls overcome slow start over Desert Christian
St. Michael Lady Cardinal Delila Nakaidinae (23) drives the ball against a Desert Christian player on Saturday in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.
The St. Michael Lady Cardinals joined No. 3 seed Valley in the quarterfinals of the Arizona Division IV state playoffs.
At Bradshaw Mountain High School, the Cardinals defeated No. 5 seed Tucson Desert Christian 52-41 last Saturday night while two area teams were eliminated.
The Rock Point Cougars dropped a 54-50 decision to No. 7 Arizona Lutheran while No. 2 seed Fort Thomas made easy work of Red Mesa.
“We kind of started off real slow but I think we were feeling them out,” St. Michael coach Derrith Watchman-Moore said of Desert Christian. “Being in the upper bracket we’re getting a sense of how the southern teams play.”
The first-year coach said Desert Christian had a slight height advantage so the Cardinals had to speed up the game.
According to Watchman-Moore that didn’t happen until the second quarter as Desert Christian led 11-9 after one quarter of play.
But in the second quarter, the Cardinals took the lead for good thanks to a 16-point outburst as they lead 27-17 at the half.
“We had to change our defense,” Watchman-Moore said. “We sped up the game but I think the difference was we started to make our shots.”
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