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Elizabeth Marrero made a quick catch and buried a 3-pointer with 1:12 left, lifting the Bryan Lady Vikings into the McDonald's Invitational Basketball Championship game with a 62-58 victory over Katy Cinco Ranch on Tuesday.
Marrero's looping assist to Carlisha Wyatt gave Bryan its first lead of the quarter, 57-56 with 2:45 left, but the Lady Cougars regained the lead when Cinco Ranch's Kellie Ros bounced a pass to Megan Palmer, who scored.
The basket, with 2:09 left, was the last for the Lady Cougars, while Bryan added a putback from Marrero to salt the game away and send the Lady Vikings into the title game against Aldine Nimitz Wednesday at noon.
Bryan coach Beth Jesurun, who set up a very tough nondistrict schedule, had said that her team needed a quality win over a good team. They got it over a Cinco Ranch squad that had to earn its way into the semifinal with a 55-26 win over Australia's East Coast Dunkeroos.
"The kids responded and did things we've been wanting them to do," Jesurun said. "They broke the press and got easy shots. I haven't seen [Cinco Ranch] come out of its press in a long, long time, and that was nice."
Cinco Ranch led 56-50 midway through the fourth period, but Bryan ran off seven straight points, starting with a runner from Ashley Maxwell that the senior guard banked high off the glass. Marrero, a junior who has had an outstanding tournament, led Bryan with 20 points and post Carlisha Wyatt had 12.
Bryan had 21 steals, with Marrero, Carlisha Wyatt and Gia Ayers each getting four. It was three straight steals in the fourth period that provided the impetus for victory.
The Lady Vikings scored after all three, including two buckets from Wyatt that put Bryan back into contention early in the fourth period. That gave a boost to a Bryan attack almost completely shut down by the Lady Cougars in the third period. Cinco Ranch's pressuring 2-3 zone held Bryan to just four points in that quarter.
"We were taking too quick of shots," said Jesurun. "We weren't thinking and doing the things we work on every day in practice. Once we started doing those, then we made our run and were able to fight back into the ball game."
Demi Clinch, Cinco Ranch's 5-11 junior, presented problems for Bryan's defense throughout the game, with her post-up ability and long-range shooting. Clinch scored 25 points with a trio of treys, and sank 10 of 11 free throws. Her rare miscue was when a reverse layup hit the side of the rim, allowing Bryan to retain its lead.
The pace dictated the flow of the game and the faster the game, the better for Bryan, which fell behind 19-12 after one quarter, but came back to run off 15 consecutive points in a 26-point second quarter.
Seven different Lady Vikings contributed to that run, which opened with Ashley Maxwell free throws and closed with an offensive board and turnaround shot from Beverly Hardemen.
"We knocked down clutch free throws, got clutch rebounds," Jesurun emphasized. "We made clutch plays. You've got to focus, stay intense and play smart. I thought we did that and I'm extremely proud of the kids."
A taller Cinco Ranch team outrebounded Bryan, 32-27, but from the opening of the game, the Lady Vikings battled inside in a very physical game.
NOTES: The East Coast Dunkeroos, on their summer break in Australia, had to finish their tournament Tuesday. They are going to Disney World. The team departs for Orlando, Fla., Wednesday for a last stop before returning to Australia. The Dunkeroos finished 3-1 in the tournament, closing with a 57-34 win over Conroe.
Semifinals
Bryan 62, Katy Cinco Ranch 58.
CINCO RANCH (12-9) -- Kellie Ros 2 1-2 2 7; Demi Clinch 6 10-11 0 25; Kelly Richard 3 0-0 1 6; Zuilhof 0 0-0 1 0; Carly Dittert 0 0-0 1 0; Ashley Roberts 1 0-0 1 3; Robyn Dumas 0 0-0 1 0; Tara Cioccia 0 0-0 3 0; Megan Palmer 5 0-0 2 10; Ashleigh Nwanguma 2 0-0 3 4; Brandy Dittert 1 0-0 3 3. Totals: 20 11-13 18 58.
3-pters -- Ros (2), Clinch (3), Roberts, B. Dittert.
BRYAN (14-6) -- Sierra Flowers 2 0-0 0 5; Gia Ayers 2 2-2 2 4 ; Micah Marshall 0 4-4 4 4; Ashley Maxwell 3 2-4 2 8; Carlette Wyatt 1 1-2 2 3; Elizabeth Marrero 6 6-6 2 20; Carlisha Wyatt 6 0-2 2 12; Beverly Hardeman 2 0-0 1 4; Totals: 22 15-20 15 62.
3-pters -- Flowers, Marrero (2)
Cinco Ranch19 14 15 10 -- 58
Bryan12 26 4 20 -- 62
