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Battlefield District girls basketball tiebreaker: James Monroe 70, Courtland 59 Date published: 2/15/2009
BY TAFT COGHILL JR. The James Monroe High School girls basketball team had two missions last night: win and keep its composure. The last time JM played Battlefield District rival Courtland it lost by eight points. But more unnerving to the Yellow Jackets was the way they lost their cool. James Monroe standout point guard Kirastin Cole was ejected from the game and that stuck with the Yellow Jackets' players. Last night, they battled through foul trouble against Courtland and it didn't faze them. The Yellow Jackets stayed focused and walked away with a 70-59 victory in the Battlefield tiebreaker game last night at Spotsylvania High, giving them the No. 1 seed and a bye in this week's district tournament. Both teams have qualified for the Region I tournament, JM (19-2) in Division 3 and Courtland (15-5) in Division 4. "I think the last time we played [Courtland], that taught us a lesson about our composure," JM standout forward Bilnita Armstead said. "Before [last night's] game, we said: 'Whatever happens, we're not going to lose our cool. We're going to stay with it.' That's what we did." Armstead and Cole certainly let their play do the talking. Armstead poured in 24 points, while Cole scored 23. Cole, who scored 15 second-half points, triggered a 10-2 run in the third quarter that increased JM's lead from 34-30 to 44-32. JM didn't look back. "That's JM's team," Courtland coach Gene Flamm said of Cole and Armstead. "Everything flows through them." The Yellow Jackets went ahead by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter. In addition to the 47 combined points from Armstead and Cole, senior center Connie Harrison-Lewis scored 10 points before fouling out with 4:23 left in the game. Harrison-Lewis wasn't the only JM player hindered by fouls. Armstead picked up her third with 2:38 left in the second quarter. Starting guard Brittini McFadden had four by the 3:10 mark of the third quarter. The Cougars were in the bonus just four minutes into the third quarter, but wasn't able to make it a major advantage. "The whole starting five was in foul trouble," Armstead said. "But we kept our composure. We knew what we had to do and we got it done. We felt like we had to win or lose with class, just play ball."
Date published: 2/15/2009
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