Published: January 05, 2008 10:21 am      

Joshua erupts in third quarter for win

JOSHUA — After scoring only 23 points in the entire first half, the Joshua Lady Owls blasted Stephenville with 20 points in the third quarter on the way to a 53-45 win Friday night.

With the victory, Joshua improves to 17-6 overall and 4-1 in District 8-4A play heading into Tuesday’s game at Aledo. Stephenville fell to 10-11 overall and 1-4 in 8-4A.

“Every game in this district is going to be tough,” Joshua head coach Jim Murphy said. “You’ve got to win the home games against the teams you think you’re competing with for playoff spots. That’s what we did tonight.”

Brady Sanders led the way for the Lady Owls at both ends of the floor, finishing with 17 points.

With less than a minute left in the third period, Sanders hit a 3-pointer for a 41-31 lead and Elizabeth Dominguez scored in the final seconds to push the lead to 43-31.

Sanders scored the Lady Owls’ first six points of the fourth for a 49-36 lead that essentially put the game out of reach.

“She got some steals and some layups,” Murphy said of Sanders. “She pulled up and hit some shots. In the second half she pulled up and made that shot. We’ve been wanting her to do that all year and when she does, she’s pretty tough.”

Jordan Neal finished with 10 points on the night and Dominguez added eight. Kaitlyn Mary (seven), Electra Springsteen (six) and Mason Smart (five) also scored for the Lady Owls.

Joshua held a 53-38 lead before the Honeybees netted the final seven points of the contest for the final margin.

“Anytime you can get a few layups it helps everything else,” Murphy said. “We made some little adjustments against their defense. Their 1-3-1 was really hurting us, so we made some adjustments.”

Prior to their offensive explosion, the Lady Owls struggled against Stephenville’s 1-3-1 zone defense.

Joshua held a 15-14 lead at the end of the first after Bri Bledsoe hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the period.

Joshua outscored Stephenville 8-3 in the second quarter to take a 23-17 lead at the half.

Smart and Mary hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Mary added another field goal for the Lady Owls’ scoring in the second quarter.

Though much of the results came at the offensive end of the floor, Murphy was pleased with how his team was able to slow the Honeybees in the second half.

“We made a few adjustments, but I think we played better defense,” Murphy said. “We concentrated on it and played better defense.”