Blake and host Academy of the Holy Names lose in the Craig Keeler Memorial tournament.
By DON GENOVESE
Published December 30, 2003
TAMPA - Ridgewood was down early Monday but stormed back in the second half to defeat Blake 49-40 and advance to today's championship game finals in the Craig Keeler Memorial Christmas Tournament.
Despite being outrebounded and shooting 3-for-22, the Lady Rams only trailed by three at the half. Ridgewood outscored Blake 20-12 in the third quarter.
"We played the first half like we sat around for two days and did nothing," Ridgewood coach Gregg Bollinger said. "We played harder the second half and shot the ball very well. This was a good win for us."
Ridgewood was led by Felicia Hunt and Jaime Surmin, who had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Surmin had three 3-pointers including one in the fourth quarter with 5:05 left which put the Rams up 41-34. The Rams had clutch free throws and went 14-of-20 from the line. The Yellow Jackets were 4-for-17 from the stripe.
Ridgewood plays at 8 tonight in the final against Lake Gibson, a 68-60 winner over host Academy of the Holy Names. Lake Gibson was led by senior center Genetta Harris who scored a career-high 26.
Holy Names was down only five at the half, but Lake Gibson opened the second half with a 10-0 run.
"We played well tonight," Lake Gibson coach Kim Jones said. "We made some turnovers and mistakes which we want to minimize, but overall we played great."
AHN kept the game close with outside shooting from Christen Prado who made five from beyond the arc and scored 17. The Jaguars also got 15 points from Dana Esposito.
Lake Gibson shot 15-of-24 from the free-throw line and had solid guard play from Euneshia Proctor, who scored 17 including two free throws at the end.
